That's What Happens at a Charity Ball
by thehowlinthenight
Summary: Lily coerces Remus into being auctioned off for a dance and a date at a charity ball. What happens next is nothing like what Remus imagined.
1. Chapter 1

"Remus…"

There was an insistent tugging on Remus's shirt, He was in a world of his own and was content to remain there while observing the ever moving crowd around him.

"Remus…" the voice said again, slightly louder this time, still tugging at his shirt which he attempted to bat away.

"Remus… come on, it's time to go"

Remus, awakening himself from his own thinking turned around to see the slightly stressed face of his friend.

"Lily, time for what? Where are we going?" Remus asked

"The Bachelor auction Remus, remember I asked you to be one of the bachelors…"

Giving Lily a confused look "no lily, you never mentioned anything about a bachelor auction"

It had taken Lily a week to convince Remus to attend the ball. It was for a charity that Remus couldn't even remember the name of or it's cause but he knew that Lily had been doing regular volunteer work for them for the past couple of months, trying to organise this event.

Lilly was dressed in a full length green evening dress that hugged her curves, which contrasted strongly with her bright auburn hanging free and wavy down her back. She looked stunning.

Lily began to ponder "Really? I thought I did" she said then suddenly snapping her attention back to Remus "then this is me officially asking you now"

"No, Lilly"

Remus really didn't want to be here, he didn't do well around crowds, let alone potentially being put in the spotlight. He wanted to be at home in the little 2nd story flat that he and Lily shared, curled up on their old leather couch in front of the fire with a good book, what he did every Saturday night while Lily went out with her girlfriends.

Lily had convinced him to suit up for the night, and he had reluctantly agreed as he had no idea what else he would wear if he didn't. The problem was the only suit he had was old and slightly too small for him, it was also the suit that he wore to funerals.

He was trying the suit on when Lily walked into his Room. "Remus"

"Lily, No!" Remus responded knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Remus, we're going shopping"

So he was wearing a typical black and white tuxedo at the event, that he was not at all comfortable in, he preferred his oversized grandpa jumpers after all. Lily had said that it suited him and he trusted her judgment, not that he really cared that much about what he looked like to others anyway.

"Please Remus"

"No Lily"

"Please Remus! Don't make me get all whiney on you"

"Lily…" Remus growled "I'm not even good looking, who in their right mind would want to spend money on me"

"Don't growl at me Remus, you sound like an animal, you're gorgeous, don't even get me started on that. The auction is for charity and I'm sure there are plenty of rich men and women willing to spend their money on you for a dance and a date. I'm going up there too so you're not going to be by yourself."

"Lily…" Remus pleaded with his friend

"Remus, Please" Lilly pleaded back "we're already meant to be up on the stage."

After a moment Remus replied "The things I do for you Lily"

"Aww, you know you love me!" Lily said as she grabbed Remus's hand and began to drag him through the crowd towards the stage where everyone was taking their places.

"It's lucky for you that I do"


	2. Chapter 2

They reached the stage that was set up for the band that evening, there were already another 6 bachelors and bachelorettes standing there waiting for the action to begin. There were 4 women and 4 men in total, none of which he recognised as he was not a very active member of the social circle that Lily circulated, he wasn't really part of any social circles at all.

Walking up the stairs to reach where the others stood, Remus looked out over the crowd again, He had a better vantage point from up here and could see everything that was happening in the huge and elegant ballroom. He was thinking about why on earth he agreed to do this, the charity was probably only going to get 10 pounds out of auctioning him off.

Remus suddenly locked eyes with someone. The man looked to be of a similar age to himself at nearly 20 years of age. He was also wearing the stock standard black tuxedo; it seemed to be what nearly every male in the room was wearing tonight. His grey eyes, seemed very other-worldly, like there was a story hidden beneath them. His shoulder length black hair was tied messily into a bun complementing his chiselled and slightly stubbled jaw.

There was another man with unruly black hair, standing next to him whispering in his ear, but not managing very well because his glasses kept slipping down his nose, forcing him to keep pushing them back up.

Remus's eyes were still locked with the man after what seemed like an hour but was only really 4 or 5 seconds. All of a sudden the longer haired man gave Remus a quick wink, obviously trying to hide his actions from his friend.

Remus felt his cheeks reddening in response and looked away quickly, trying to hide his blush. _Why are you blushing? Stop blushing_ he thought to himself hoping that they man had not noticed. Luckily Lily hadn't noticed either as she was too busy dragging Remus to his place in the line.

"Lily! There you are" a man probably in his 50's, dressed in an ugly olive green suit with an equally ugly yet surprisingly matching green and gold shirt and tie, was walking towards Lily and himself. "I was wondering how much longer I would have to stall. Are we ready to go?"

"Yes Horace, we're all here, let's get this thing started" Lily responded

Giving Lily a polite nod, Horace turned around to the crowd and began "Ladies and gentlemen, gather round, gather round. The annual bachelor auction is about to begin."

The crowd's attention was shifting to Horace as they took their places to observe the auction.


	3. Chapter 3

Ladies and Gentlemen!" Horace bellowed to the crowed. "I am Horace Slughorn and I will be the Auctioneer for this evening's bachelor and bachelorette auction. I encourage you all to dig deep into your pockets this evening and bid, bid, bid, on these lovely ladies and gentlemen up here who have volunteered themselves for this great cause."

Remus Grumbled at that last statement because as far as he was concerned he had been coerced. It earned him a condescending look from Lily.

"Just to clarify for anyone who doesn't know how these auctions work, the highest bidder for each of the bachelors and bachelorettes wins the rights to the first dance for this evening and a date at a time that is agreeable to both parties"

"Relax Remus" Lily whispered in his ear. "It will be fine" giving him a reassuring smile

"First up tonight" Horace continued "Is the amazing Alice"

Lily leaned to look past Remus and gave a big smile of encouragement and a thumbs up to who Remus assumed was Alice.

 _Ahhh, she must be one of Lily's girlfriends_ Remus thought, he'd always heard a lot about Lily's nights out but names had never stuck with Remus.

"Now" Horace continued "Alice is currently 20 years of age is studying to be a nurse, She's a bit of a wild one, this one, loves to get down and boogie!, she speaks two languages and plays the cello."

"Lily? Where do they get the information from?" Remus whispered

"Don't worry Remus, I put your bio in a week ago" Lily replied

"You better not have written anything wacky about me"

"Only you would use the word wacky, I only wrote the truth" Giving him a mischievous grin.

"Do I have an opening bid?" Horace yelled

Silence. _One… Two… Three…_ Remus counted in his head

A hand shot into the air towards the back of the room "Five hundred dollars!"

The look on Alice's face was of relief, she had a bid.

"Six hundred!" yelled a man from the other side of the room

"Seven hundred!" yelled a woman towards the front of the stage. The war for Alice was on.

Alice ended up reaching Fifteen hundred pounds to a man named Frank and she seemed quite happy with herself. She remained on stage to wait out the rest of the auctions.

The auction continued with Molly but Remus had zoned out. Remus gazed out over the crowd again but found his eyes seeking out where the man who winked at him earlier had got to. It didn't take too long. The man was again staring at Remus, who found it a bit unnerving so he shifted his gaze straight over them man not making eye contact again.

Remus noticed when shifting his gaze that the man with the short black messy hair and the glasses was also staring in his direction but not at him. Remus turned to look at Lily. _Oh_ he thought, _Got it._

"What happens if a woman wins you Lily?" Remus asked knowing that Lily was completely straight.

"I'm open minded Remus and it's not like we have to sleep with them Remus, you need to relax as far as I'm concerned the only thing you have to worry about is a brawl starting while your action is happening."

Lily, you're not serious!

"no, but… it wouldn't surprise me if it did happen, I'm not blind I can see the eyes in the crowd on you."

"No Lily, their not on me, they're on you" Remus corrected looking back towards the man with the glasses.

Lily just rolled her eyes, knowing that her friend really had no idea how hot he was looking tonight.

Horace was currently running the auction for Narcissa, a tall elegant but slightly harsh looking woman with long white blond hair, the sixth person in line, Remus was next and growing steadily more nervous.

"Remus, swap with me" Lily commanded

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to go last, come on, please"

"Oh alright" he said then swapped places with his friend.

Horace was closing Narcissa's auction, she had reached eight thousand pounds from a man named Lucius, who strangely had very similar hair to Narcissa. All the other bachelors and bachelorettes had reached prices between One thousand and the eight thousand that Narcissa had reached. Remus was secretly hoping that he would make at least the one thousand pounds for the charity.

"Next up we have Re…" Horace stared but then noticing the swap in positions "Nope we have the lovely Lily, yes she is lovely and kind but don't be fooled, she is a feisty one and can kick your assess if need be"

Remus grinned inwardly knowing that Lily had written that about herself.

"She is currently 19 years old and is still undecided on what she wants to do with her life but is open to suggestions"

At that statement Lily winked at Remus. Remus just laughed.

"Opening Bids for a dance and a date with the lovely Lily?" Horace asked

"Ten thousand pounds!" yelled the man with the glasses as he started to move through the crown towards the stage.

 _Shit! Go Lily!_ Remus thought

"Eleven thousand!" yelled the man who winked at Remus earlier. Giving his friend a wicked grin.

 _Oh, okay_ Remus thought, a little disheartened. He didn't realise until that moment how much he was hoping for the man to bid for him.

"S…, you little shit!" Remus heard the man with the glasses say even though it was a little muffed "Twelve Thousand!"

"Woah" Lily whispered beside him.

"Twelve thousand and one!" The long haired man yelled with slightly too much confidence

Remus laughed out loud at that earning him another look from the long haired man, this time with a slight smile.

"Thirteen thousand pounds" the man with the glasses yelled shooting a glare at his friend. After a couple of seconds his friend put his hands up in defeat.

"First call… Second call… Third and final call…" Horace bellowed to the crowd "Sold! To the young man down the front here"

The man had a massive grin on his face, he turned to the long haired man giving him a double thumbs up, then began walking over to the side of the room to the payment table to settle his debt.

"Well done Lily!" Remus congratulated his friend

"Oh my goodness Remus I didn't think I would even get one hundred pounds let alone what I did get" Lily exclaimed in delight. "It's your turn now"

Remus froze.

"This is your final chance Lads and Ladies to secure yourselves a dance and a date from our auction! Our last bachelor for tonight is Remus!"

"Lily, why did I agree to this?" Remus asked his friend, seeking reassurance.

"Remus, breathe" Lily replied.

"Ladies and Gents! Remus here is the bookish type, loves curling up in front the toasty warm fire with a good book. Remus also likes wearing oversized Jumpers!" Horace spoke

"Lily, why did you tell them that?" Remus asked slightly embarrassed

"Because that's you Remus" Lily replied with a kind smile.

"A little birdy also told me that if you end up with Remus as your dance and date, don't let yourself be lulled into a false sense of security, He can be quite a beast in the bedroom!"

Remus turned beet red "Lily! Oh my god! Why?!"

"Don't act all innocent with me Mr. Lupin, I heard you and Fabian at it more than once when you were dating last year. The walls in our apartment are quite thin, you know."

Remus wanted to run away and hide at that moment but that couldn't happen, not here.

Horace asked the crowd "Have we got an opening b…"

"Twenty thousand pounds!" yelled the winking man from earlier

There was a collective gasp from the crowd but they weren't given enough time to completely absorb what happened.

"Fuck!" Remus exclaimed a little too loudly. Lily giggled beside him.

"Twenty one thousand pounds!" cried a woman at the back of the crowd.

"Twenty two thousand pounds!" came from somewhere else in the room.

Twenty three thousand pounds!" Yelled a woman near the front of the stage.

The bidding war continues for a few minutes showing no sign of stopping. Remus looked over at the long haired man, he looked furious at the other bidders who just kept bidding. They were now up to thirty two thousand pounds with no sign of stopping. He turned to face Remus with a wicked grin, locking eyes with him again and winking.

"One hundred thousand pounds!" He yelled without breaking eye contact with Remus.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room, everyone had gone dead silent. Remus felt like he wanted to faint. Lily grabbed his hand and held on tight to reassure Remus.

"Uh… okay…" Horace said, not really sure of what to do. He started "First call…"

"Remus breathe" Lily said to him. She was now standing directly in front of him. He hadn't realised that he had actually stopped breathing. Under Lily's direction he took a breath.

"Second call… Third and final call…" Horace said then paused, the room was still silent.

"Sold! To the man with the money!" Horace yelled, the crowd breaking into applause. "Ladies and Gentlemen, that marks the end of our annual bachelor and bachelorette auction. Those who won an auction, once you have paid please come up to the stage to collect your dance partner, this first dance will begin shortly.

The crowd got louder and began moving around the room starting to clear the dance floor ready for the auction partners to take their places.

"Wow! Remus Wow!" Lily said to her friend "You got lucky! He's hot and rich!"

"yeah he is" Remus said absently, still amazed at the extensive amount that was paid for a dance and a date with him. Slowly bringing his attention back to Lily "Lily? I don't know how to dance"

Lily laughed "oh Remus" she sighed "don't' worry, If your date can afford that amount of money he can probably dance. We'll try to stick near each other."

Remus nodded in return.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lily" a voice came from behind her, she turned around to see her winner from the auction

"I'm James, it's nice to meet you, your lovely lily you are looking lovely tonight, would you like to dance? Oh wait you already am going to dance with me, I uh… don't know why I asked that, I'm talking too much aren't I?, shut up James!"

Lily laughed "Yes, that's okay, Come on handsome, let's go pick a spot"

James smiled at her and held out his arm for Lily and the headed down the steps. Lily giving Remus one last smile and wave as they disappeared into the crowd.

Slowly each of the bachelors and bachelorettes were collected by their partners and taken towards the dance floor leaving just Remus waiting awkwardly, looking out at the crowd. The band were getting ready to start for the first dance and the pairs were starting to take their places.

 _Please, please don't leave me standing here_ Remus thought

"A beast in the bedroom huh?" came a voice from his left

"uh… blame Lily for that being in the bio" Remus replied as he turned around. It was the winking man standing about two metres away from him. Remus notice that he was shorter than he originally thought.

"Lily… oh Lily the bird who James is with?"

"uh yes"

"You look nice, I'm Sirius"

"I know you're serious, you don't look like you're joking, but no I don't look nice"

Sirius laughed, Remus thought all his Christmases had come at once, there was so much life in his face.

"No Remus, my name is Sirius"

 _Well that's awkward_ Remus thought "sorry" looking down at his shoes suddenly finding them very interesting.

Sirius took a step forwards, he reached out a hand to gently grip Remus's chin. Lifting Remus's chin upwards so that their eyes met "Don't be sorry Remus" Sirius spoke softly "You'll be seriously sick of the puns by the end of the night"

Remus cringed and laughed "That was really bad."

Releasing Remus's chin "I know, shall we go and take our place?" Sirius asked eagerly moving to stand next to Remus, offering an arm

 _Probably just wants his money's worth_ Remus thought.

They began walking towards the dance floor, all the other couples were already assembled. Remus spotted Lily and James a little way away. Lily was talking away without a care in the world not taking any notice of the way James was currently looking at her, like he was in awe. Lily looked over towards them giving Remus a smile that said _Relax, you'll be fine, enjoy it._

Sirius started steering them both over near Lily and James. Remus was thankful that he wouldn't have to ask Sirius to move near them having to explain that it was because he was freaking out right now about dancing.

They took their place and waited.

"Just so you know, I can't dance very well" Remus told Sirius.

Sirius took a step forward and looked Remus directly in the eyes, eyes that Remus could not look away from. Sirius took Remus's hand and placed it on his shoulder then slipped a hand around Remus to rest it on his back. Sirius then took Remus's other hand in his own, ready to dance.

"That's ok, just follow my lead" Sirius replied,

The position they were in was slightly awkward because of Sirius being a bit shorter than Remus but neither of them really cared. Remus took a deep breath in an attempt to suppress a shiver that he felt creeping up on him. It backfired when he breathed in a lungful of Sirius. He smelt slightly smokey, like he had been sitting in front of a campfire burning on redwood but also fresh like he had been running through a forest after a rain, Remus found it comforting.

Sirius was still looking at Remus his expression unreadable. Remus felt very self-conscious and looked over towards James and Lily just to have something to look at other than Sirius. A strange thought crossed Remus's mind. A strange thought of hope. _What if something came of this?_ Remus shook that thought straight from his mind. _No, he's only here because he paid for you._

The music started.

Remus tensed up then panicking slightly he did exactly what he had been stressing over since the action ended. He took a step forward and stood on Sirius's foot.

"Shit, sorry" Remus said backing away slightly

"S'ok" Sirius said dragging Remus back towards him, stopping him from escaping any further.

Sirius started to move as the music continued. Remus almost let out a sigh of relief, Sirius knew what he was doing but Remus didn't feel like he could completely relax just yet. They continued moving around the circle in silence for a few minutes along with the music. Remus was still looking at his feet, trying really hard to avoid stepping on Sirius's feet again.

"Remus, look at me" Sirius said quietly breaking the silence. Remus did, looking into those eyes again, he felt himself slowly relaxing into the movements that Sirius guided him into.

"I'm surprised that James hasn't set Lily's hair on fire yet"

"what?" Remus exclaimed

"oh.. ha… James and I, we tend to get up to a bit of mischief." Sirius explained "Sometimes we make mischief and sometimes the mischief manages to find us"

Remus gave Sirius a disbelieving look, from Sirius's behaviour so far this evening he didn't think this man was capable of causing trouble.

"What? You didn't think I'm a complete angel all the time did you?"

Remus blushed a little in response, He really did, but he supposed he really didn't know this man at all, yet.

"Oh, you did!" Sirius patronised Remus then placed a hand on Remus's cheek. "Don't worry I'll change that opinion very quickly, just wait until you meet Elvendork" he said then tapped Remus's face with his hand.

"what? Who's Elvend…" Remus began to ask but stopped because the music had finished and everyone was applauding. Remus found himself eager to get back to Lily, to talk to her. He looked over and found that Lily and James were already on their way over, weaving their way through the crowd.

When Lily and James reached Remus and Sirius, Remus found himself being yanked away by Lily who was calling out over her shoulder "Back in a minute, bathroom break."

Remus looked back at Sirius and James apologetically to find that Sirius was laughing at the events of the last 30 seconds and James looking confused at what was happening.

"I thought only girls travelled in packs when taking bathroom breaks"

"Apparently not" Sirius said now laughing at the look on James' face.

Lily was still dragging Remus along in an urgent manner. Remus realised she was dragging him straight into the women's bathroom, it wasn't the first time. "Uhh Lily why did you drag me in here, you know I hate it when you do that! I always get weird lo…"

"Remus, shut up." Lily interrupted "Now talk"

"About what?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what"

"Lily, there's nothing to talk about"

"That's not what it looked like to me"

"Maybe you should pay more attention to your own date instead of me, spill"

"He's handsome but a bit of a dork, now you spill"

"No, now, can we get back?"

"Eager are we?" Lily replied giving him a knowing smile.

Remus just blushed. Why did he always give himself away like this?

"Let's go back."

Remus and Lily walked back towards where they left Sirius and James who were engrossed in a conversation of their own. The dancing continued behind them with a variety of couples circling around the floor. From the looks of it Frank and Alice were still going, Remus wondered if they had met before this night. Both men had two flutes of champagne each in their hands and Remus notice

"I got you a drink while you were gone, hope you like champagne."

"I do thank you" Remus replied taking the flute from Sirius, hand brushing in the process sending a spark running up Remus's arm. Remus automatically raised his eyes to Sirius's and couldn't look away

"Will you two stop eye-fucking already" James said to the both of them after what felt life a lifetime. "Come outside with us for some air"

Remus went as Red as a beetroot and hoped that Sirius hadn't noticed his embarrassment.

Lily laughed seeing Remus's discomfort and grabbed Remus's arm. "Come on, you beast."


	5. Chapter 5

Remus and Lily walked or rather almost skipped arm in arm towards the large regal glass doors that led to the paved patio and gardens outside with Sirius and James walking close behind. Remus opened one of the doors, holding it to let Lily through.

Just as Remus went to walk through the door himself Sirius lunged forward to grab the door from Remus to hold it for him and James but ended up awkwardly mashing his hand against Remus's. Remus lifted his eyes to meet Sirius's who had not yet released Remus's hand.

James rolled his eyes at what was happening and mumbles "eye-fucking" and walked forward after Lily.

Remus having heard what James had said as he walked through the door, blushed. Sirius instead of taking his hand away took Remus's fingers into his and wrapped their hands together. Remus's blush deepened as Sirius walked through the door pulling Remus out into the cool night air with him.

The patio was made of large stone pavers that stretched the length of the room inside bordered by… that were made of the same stone. Large pots were placed either side of each set of glass doors and a number of sets of wrought iron chairs and tables were scattered around for guests to sit and relax.

In the centre of the garden there was a large stone fountain lit up by lights inside and outside the fountain. Short hedges bordered the various paths that wound around the garden, encasing various flower bushes within. Bordering the large garden was a high hedge decorated with fairy lights creating an air of magic.

There were a number of people scattered around the patio, a couple making out in one of the corners, a couple of men conversing loudly near the door while smoking cigarettes, a man slumped over a table who had quite obviously had too much to drink and a group of about 8 people who were clearly friends chatting and mucking around at another table.

Lily and James had taken a seat at one of the tables near a set of steps that lead down from the patio to the garden. Remus looked over at Lily who was beckoning for him and Sirius to join them. He made to walk over to them but found himself stopped by the hand that was still attached to his. Remus looked at Sirius who was looking out into the garden.

"Walk with me?" Sirius asked Remus almost absent mindedly.

"Okay" Remus replied quietly, turning back to give Lily an apologetic look who just smiled and nodded understandingly in return.

The pair walked down through the garden towards the fountain, Sirius still grasping tightly to Remus even though both their hands were quite sweaty.

"uh…" Sirius spoke "you and Lily aren't, uh… you know, are you"

"uh…" Remus didn't quite know what Sirius was talking about. _What on earth is Sirius going on abo…. Oh… oh!_ "oh no!, Lily is my best friend, she's like a sister to me."

"That I can understand, James is a brother to me in all but blood. Been there for me through thick and thin."

They had reached the fountain, Sirius let go of Remus's hand so that he could lean over and look into the fountain. Remus stood watching him when suddenly his face turned to what Remus interpreted as a mischievous grin. Very quickly Sirius's hand reached down into the water and flicked back up splashing Remus with water.

"What the fuck?!" Remus froze surprised.

Sirius burst out laughing. "The look on your face!"

"I will get you back for that, when you are least expecting it" applying a mischievous grin to his own face.

"I look forward to it." Sirius replied also mischievously but sincerely.

After a couple of moments silence Sirius came to life again shoving his hand into his suit pants pocket, digging around looking for something. Eventually Sirius pulled out two coins. "Make a wish" Sirius told Remus as he handed one of the coins to him.

Remus smiled in thanks and turned towards the fountain to look into it's sparkling depths. He wasn't entirely sure what to do as he hadn't done this before and he had no idea what to wish on.

He contemplated a number of things including eternal happiness for Lily but decided against it because if anyone was capable of creating their own happiness it was Lily. He settled on wishing on a chance, a chance with Sirius, he still hadn't made up his mind about what he felt about Sirius but he couldn't deny that he was attracted to him.

Remus watched Sirius as he stepped back from the fountain turned away from the fountain and threw the coin over his head into the fountain. After hearing the small plop noise the coin made Sirius turned and smiled at Remus "Your turn" he said.

Remus stepped back from the fountain and turned to face away from it. He glanced at Sirius just before throwing the coin over his head and into the fountain, wishing for a chance with the man he was looking at.

Sirius stepped towards Remus and reached for his hand again, slipping his fingers through Remus's then tugging his hand to walk back towards the patio, towards James and Lily

As they walked back Remus heard the loud and unmistakable laughter of Lily which was soon joined by what could only be James's laughter. He could also hear that inside, the music was changing, instead of the formal dance music, the band was getting into some rock ballads.

"I know you're not obliged to do so but…" Sirius spoke "would you care for another dance?"

It was the end of the night, nearly half of the crowd had already left gradually throughout the night, the rest were filtering their way out of the front doors with significantly lighter pockets than what they arrived with.

"Remus, are you ready to go?" Lily asked Remus, who nodded in reply even though he really wasn't ready yet. Lily turned to say her goodbyes to James.

"Goodnight Remus" Sirius said quietly to Remus, leaning forward giving Remus a kiss on the cheek.

Remus blushed as he watched Sirius walk away. "Goodnight Sirius" he whispered back even though Sirius was too far away to hear.


	6. Chapter 6

"So when are you going on your date?" Lily asked as Remus was opening the door to their apartment.

"Shit, I don't know, we didn't even discuss it, maybe he doesn't want to go on the date. Probably doesn't even think of me in that way." Remus answered, throwing his bow tie and jacket over the arm of a chair and flopping down into his favourite spot on the worn leather couch, his words slowly turning into mumbles as he went on.

"Mumble bum Remus you are so oblivious!" Lily said frustratedly "He bid one hundred fucking thousand dollars on you!, he kissed you on the cheek, he asked you to dance more than what was required from the auction and he couldn't keep his fucking eyes off you for fucks sake!"

"Woah, alright Lily, I get your point and how many drinks did you have tonight, you know you're a lightweight that gets sweary when you have too much" kicking off his shoes as he attempted to swerve the conversation in a different direction.

Lily struck a cute pose and battered her eyes at Remus. "Me? Drink too much? Never!" launching herself onto the couch next to Remus. Lily turned to face Remus

"Lil's, I hardly know him, for pete's sake we only met tonight."

"Remus I know what you're like, just don't go writing him off just yet, please" lily said with a slight pleading tone to her voice, knowing exactly Remus's behaviours when it comes to relationships. "I don't think you realised how happy you looked when you were with him."

"Okay Lily, I give, I won't write him off just yet, I just need to think about it a bit." Lily was squirming a little next to him trying to hold in a giggle. Remus just looked at her and waited knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it in.

"Ride him!" she burst out in a fit of giggles.

"Uuggh, Lily" Remus groaned and rolled his eyes at her. Remus nudged at her while she was coming down from her giggle fit, getting her to move over so that he could lie down and put his head in her lap.

"I get it Remus, Fabian broke your heart, when you walked in on him moaning like a cheap whore underneath some other guy, you just need to learn to let someone in again, to learn to trust again." Lily spoke.

Remus huffed in reply; she pretty much hit the nail on the head with that statement.

"It's been nearly two years, Remus, it is well and truly time to get back out there and if you ever need to talk, I am always here" She finished.

"I know Lil's and I know you are and thank you."

They sat/lay there in companionable silence for a moment with Lily playing with Remus's hair, thinking about what they had just discussed. Lily was worried about Remus and Remus knew it. She was worried about whether he would ever get his confidence back and to learn to trust someone other than herself again.

"So…" Remus was the one to break the silence "James."

Lily found herself struggling to hide a smile. "What about him?" she asked.

"What do you think?" Remus replied, genuinely interested.

Lily gave up trying to hide her smile and replied "He's cute and nice, I have to admit but I don't know…he just seems a bit… twitchy."

"Twitchy?"

"uhh… you know, nervous, excited, can't sit in the one place for more than 5 mins…"

"ah… yep, twitchy. Well maybe he was quite nervous, getting to dance with a gorgeous gal." Lily gave him a look of warning at that statement. "He did seem really determined to win you though, even if it was just Sirius teasing him a bit."

"That he did" Lily contemplated. "There was an awkward moment, while we were talking while you and Sirius were a the fountain, neither of us knew what to say, so…" Lily cringed "he used a cheesy pickup line…"

"He didn't!" Remus said switching on his scandalised gossip voice which resulted in lily flicking his nose. "Oww! But go on, what one did he use? And what did you do?"

"You must be magical, because I've fallen under your spell."

Remus cringed with Lily "he didn't! it's not even a good cheesy pick-up line."

"And I burst out laughing, which made him burst out laughing" Lily continued

"See, not such a bad result in the end" Remus told her "You said he was a dork."

"I never said that was a bad thing"

"According to Sirius the two of them get up to a bit of mischief."

Lily thought for a moment before replying "Yes… I could see that."

The conversation lapsed again into comfortable silence as both Remus and Lily had fallen into their own thoughts. Remus felt his eyes growing heavy with slowly approaching sleep.

"Up!" Lily said suddenly, jolting Remus awake again. "Get up! You're not going to fall asleep here, you already do that far too often with your reading habits."

Remus growled at her and got up slowly and reluctantly and started shuffling towards his bedroom door. Lily followed slowly behind him but stopped at her own bedroom door, turning to look at Remus "Remus, Just … think about it, okay?"

"Okay, Goodnight Lil's" nodding at her, genuinely.

"Goodnight Rem" Lily said as she walked into her room and close the door.

Remus stood in his doorway for a few seconds more thinking about how lucky he was to have a best friend like Lily.

Remus didn't bother to flick the light on in his blacked out room, he began stripping off his clothes, lazily leaving them on the floor, he was too tired to be bothered with them now. Socialising with people he didn't know well was really quite exhausting. He crawled into be in just his underwear and let sleep begin to claim him again.

Remus fell asleep with thoughts of black hair tied in a bun, hands on waists, lips on cheeks and the smell of redwood smoke and forest rain. Remus fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

Remus could not concentrate. No matter how hard he tried he could not keep his mind on the task at hand. It kept slipping into thoughts of black hair, mysterious grey eyes and touching hands.

Remus worked in a small bookshop café that was located about three blocks from where he and Lily lived. The bookshop was comfortable; Remus was almost as comfortable here as he was at home. The bookshop café was not small but not huge either with dark hardwood floors, exposed recycled redbrick walls and large french windows that allows fresh air and sunlight into the otherwise dark space. The shelves made from old metal pipes and dark stained wood. There is an old gas fireplace set into the wall and old mismatched couches, tables and chairs scattered around the place. Comfortable.

Remus was currently restocking books in the classics section of the shop but kept mucking up the order that he was supposed to be following, placing the A's with the L's and then having to redo them. Three times.

The door chimed "Oi Remus! I need coffee! Make it snappy!"

It was Lily, of course it was Lily. It was Friday and she always finished work at 3 on Friday. This was their Friday afternoon ritual.

"Jeez! Calm your farm Lils!" Remus dropped the books he was holding back into the box at his feet and walked over to the counter with the coffee machine. He set to work making Lily's coffee and a pot of tea for himself, placing them all on a tray and deciding to grab a cupcake for Lily and a piece of chocolate mudcake for himself. _The advantages of being the only person working_ Remus thought to himself, not that Mrs Figg, the owner, would mind anyway.

"Stressful day?" Remus enquired as placed the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch that Lily had flopped onto.

"You know it! Always is" Lily said making grabby hands at Remus so that he would hand over the, in her opinion, lifesaving, coffee. "There was a flu outbreak on one of those big cruise ships, over a dozen people admitted at work, more have gone to other hospitals."

"sheesh" Remus said as he poured his tea.

Lily worked as a nurse at one of the local hospitals. Lily was bright, very bright. She had finished high school a year earlier than Remus and had studied hard for two years after finishing her nursing degree a year faster that everyone else. Lily had chosen to be a nurse because she felt it was her calling, to help people.

"Remus, you are the best" Lily said when she spotted the cupcake he had brought over for her, Red velvet with pink buttercream icing. Her favourite.

"Don't you forget it" Remus replied.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, while they continued drinking their coffee/tea and eating their cakes, beginning to relax after the long week. Lily placed her feet up on the coffee table but Remus could not be bothered to tell he off.

"Ready for tomorrow night?" Remus enquired

A smile slowly crept almost dreamily upon Lily's face "Yes, I'm gonna look smexy!"

"Smexy?"

"Smexy!" she exclaimed, half slapping and grabbing Remus on his leg, just to prove her point causing Remus to jump and almost spill his tea. Remus brushed it off, just one of lily's odd things she did, it was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

James had called Lily on the Sunday afternoon after the ball to organise their date. They had ended up in the phone for over an hour talking about god knows what. Remus didn't care what they talked about, only that Lily had been a lot happier and bubblier since.

"Heard anything from Sirius yet?"

Remus's gaze dropped into his mug of tea. It was almost a week since the ball and Remus hadn't heard a thing from Sirius, putting constant doubt in his mind. Not hearing from Sirius was the reason Remus had been so off during the week, mucking up orders, spilling drinks, stocking books wrong were amongst a number of other incidents caused by a lack of concentration. Had he been reading it wrong? Had Lily been reading what she saw wrong?

"Don't' worry, I'm sure you'll hear something soon, he's got to at least want to get his money's worth."

"Cow" Remus replied as a the corner of his mouth twitched up into the beginning of a smile.

"Mooo!" Lily said, leaning into Remus's shoulder falling into comfortable silence once again.

Remus could admit it to himself now. Yes, he liked Sirius but he was sure all this uncertainty was going to end up killing him somehow. A couple of minutes went by, both Lily and Remus lost in their own thoughts. All of a sudden Lily gasped and sat up straight, grabbing Remus by his shoulders.

"Remus! Did you even give him your number?" Lily asked over excitedly while shaking Remus. "Or did you get his?"

Remus's eyes widened as a realisation dawned on him. How was he so stupid overlooking something so simple, of course that's why he hadn't heard anything. He felt a blush creeping upon his face, looking down into his now empty mug he was still holding. "No" he mumbled

"Remus! You are utterly, utterly hopeless!" lily said to him exasperatedly while pulling out her mobile. "What am I going to do with you?" A smile crept onto her face "I'll get his number from James" her smile widening at the thought of talking to James again.

"Thank you" Remus said, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "I need to close up, it's four already" grabbing the tray of their dishes and taking them over to the counter.

Lily was on the phone for half an hour while Remus closed up, cleaned up and finished stocking the box of books thinking about how he could have been so stupid the whole time. Lily was hanging up the phone as Remus re-joined her on the couch with his bag and a new book to read.

"Go! Call him now, I'll wait here" Lily told him as she handed over a slip of paper with a broad grin on her face.

Remus got back up off the couch to go and sit on one of the bar stools near the front of the shop near the now closed french windows. He took his mobile out of his pocket as he walked.

Remus dialled in the number, hit the call button and took a deep breath hoping that he wouldn't make a fool of himself. Ringing… Ringing… Ringing…

"Hello!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Hello!" came the voice over the speaker.

"Hello? Sirius, is that you? I'm hope I'm not bothering you but I realised, well it was act…" Remus began to ramble.

"Ha! Gotcha! I'm not here right now, I'm probably off doing something awesomely punk rock so leave your name and number and I'll get back to you when I am not being awesome, which is like never but you never know" Sirius's voice came over the speaker and then the voice mail beeped.

Remus froze "uh.. ahh… shit!" he said, not knowing what to say and a little taken aback from the message. He attempted to hit the button to hang up the phone but because of his fumbling hands the phone went flying to the floor. "Fuck!" he exclaimed as he went chasing after the phone, diving to the floor to pick it up "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck" he continued as he finally managed to get hold of his phone and hit the end call button.

Remus was bright red, he was breathing heavily and his hearing had disappeared momentarily out of embarrassment. He couldn't believe he did that, it was so, so, so embarrassing. He felt like he had stooped back into the territory of being an awkward 14 year old. As Remus slowly calmed down and his hearing came back into focus, all Remus could hear was the loud laughter of Lily coming from over on the couch where he could no longer see her. He then saw Lily's hands reach out on the floor from behind the couch attempting to pull herself out and into the view of the Remus.

Remus having calmed himself down a bit, stood up slowly and walked over to Lily who was still laughing, who had fallen off the couch onto the floor because of said laughter. Remus wished she would stop but it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon.

Remus moved to stand over Lily and then sat down. Lily squirmed while her laugher started to slow. "Not so funny now, is it."

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed while still laughing. "Get off!"

Remus rolled off Lily so that he ended up sitting beside her. She pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Remus, Remus, Remus" Lily said while catching her breath. "You are fucking hopeless"

"Yes I know! It is why I am going to live the rest of my life alone, Loony Loopy Lonely Lupin they will call me"

"Not If I have anything to say about it" She says determinately reaching to stick her hand into Remus's back pocket in search of his phone.

Remus squeaked, resulting in Lily bursting into hysterical laughter again. "You fucking squeaked!"

It took a few more minutes to calm Lily down again but when she was clam she dialled Sirius's number on Remus's phone.

"Hello!"

Lily giggled to herself remembering what had happened while looking at Remus who was again blushing in embarrassment. She knew what was coming so she didn't fall into the trap as Remus had done.

"Ha! Gotcha! I'm not here right now" came Sirius's voice. "I'm probably off doing something awesomely punk rock so leave your name and number and I'll get back to you when I am not being awesome, which is like never but you never know"

"Sirius, This is Lily on Remus's phone, Remus is a little disheartened right now because he made an absolute fool of himself on his previous attempt at leaving a message and if you haven't already listened to it I urge you to because it is fucking hilarious!"

"Lily!" Remus exclaimed.

"Anyway his number should be in your phone now because of the missed calls. Call Him!" She finished then pressed the end call button. "You're welcome" She said to Remus.

Remus grabbed his keys

"Come on, let's get out of here, we need groceries, we are eating steak tonight!" Remus said excitedly while holding the door open for Lily.

"Yes but you're not cooking it, you always leave it too rare, not to mention you're a horrible cook!"

Remus gasps in mock shock at Lily's statement "Me? I am not a horrible cook!" then turns back to the door to lock it.

"Remus, you burn you toast on a daily basis" She said exasperatedly " Do me a favour and never cook for Sirius in our apartment, I don't want to have to have to come to your rescue and I never want to know if you're cooking him breakfast"

 _Breakfast hmmm_ , Remus Liked the idea of breakfast with Sirius, a sly smile creeping on his face as they began walking towards the grocery store.

"Are you tempted to have breakfast with James on Sunday morning?" Remus asks Lily slyly, not really expecting her to answer it.

"Yes" she says honestly and pauses. "I am tempted but I don't want to not yet anyway."

Fair enough Remus thinks, he knows she is trying to do things a little differently this time.


	9. Chapter 9

"Do we need some of these?" Remus asks lily as he picks up a couple of mangoes from the fresh fruit stall next to him.

"Haha no, but this is more like it" she says as she grabs a carrot, playing with it inappropriately earning her a disgusted look from the old lady next to her.

Remus laughs "Come on you" he says the whispers into her ear "I completely agree."

Remus's phone began to ring as they are walking down one of the isles in the store. He jumped in surprise and grabbed it out of his pocket. Seeing the number he became suddenly nervous. "I think it's him" he said absently while staring at his phone.

"Remus fucking answer it already!" Lily said as she poked Remus on the forearm.

Remus pressed the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Remus? Is that you?"

"Yes this is Remus, Who is this?

"oh… uhh… sorry, it's Sirius, I got Lily's message."

"Oh…Hi!" Remus said a little too enthusiastically. "I'm sorry I didn't call earlier, I only realised, actually it was Lily that realised that we didn't exchange numbers last Saturday night so Lilly got your number for me from James because…"

"Remus" Sirius says quietly.

"…I hadn't heard from you so that I could call and actually thinking about it now, that was a little creepy and you probably didn't…"

"Remus" a little louder this time. Lily is facing the shelves of the isle snickering to herself at Remus's rambling.

"…even want to hear from me in which case I'm sorry for bothering you and I'll just…

"Remus!" Sirius almost yelled which made Remus startle.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to…" Remus said. "I mean… I wanted to hear from you. If I didn't hear from you by tomorrow I was going to ask James for Lily's number and ask her for your number. I'm glad you called"

"Really?"

"Really."

Remus smiled then remembered his earlier attempt at calling Sirius becoming horrified with himself. "You uhh… did you happen to listen to your voicemail?"

"I did" Sirius answered.

"Of course you did otherwise you wouldn't have gotten Lily's earlier message" Remus groaned in embarrassment.

"Remus, don't worry about it" Sirius said. "I thought it was cute you becoming all flustered.

"Cute?" Remus asked quietly, slightly in shock.

"Yes cute, Remus, you do have a bit of a sailors mouth on you though."

"Haha yes, that I do" Remus responded

"Are you free on Sunday?" Sirius asked. "For our date?"

"Sunday?"

Lily turned around suddenly to face Remus, waving her hands at him, mouthing 'no' at him.

"Sorry no, I can't do Sunday" he said looking quizzically at Lily.

"Well… umm… how about tonight?"

"Tonight?" Lily was waving her hands around at him again even more dramatically than previously.

"No sorry, can't do tonight either"

"Ok" said Sirius sounding a little disappointed "Tomorrow night then, please say yes"

"Tomorrow night?" Remus said looking back at Lily who was giving him two thumbs up and a massive grin. "Yes, tomorrow night is great"

Remus heard Sirius sigh in relief or exasperation he wasn't sure, perhaps a combination of both. "Hang on a sec…"Sirius said to him "James fuck off!" Remus heard in the background. "Sorry" Sirius said in the speaker again "He's flinging frozen peas at me"

Remus laughed "tell him fresh or cooked peas are better, more chance of splatter"

"Haha! There is no way I am telling him that especially if I am going to be the victim.

"true, what is it with vegetables tonight? Lily was just behaving inappropriately towards a carrot, the look the old lady next to us gave her was hilarious."

Sirius laughed. "Do I want to know why Lily was playing with a carrot?" he asked.

"We're at the supermarket, mucking around…" Remus replied, he definitely wasn't going to tell Sirius that he started it.

"I am so telling James that!"

Remus laughed "he's better off finding out now what he might be getting into, it can be quite scary"

Lily punched him in the arm "Oww!"

"I better go stop James from burning the flat down. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night Remus"

"Me two…" Remus blushed realising his slip up."Uhh… I mean I look forward to seeing you too Sirius"

Sirius laughed quietly "Good bye Remus"

"Good bye Sirius" Remus said moving his hand away from his ear and hanging up. Lily was standing in front of him with her arms crossed her weight leaning on the one side and one eyebrow raised at Remus.

"Don't" Remus said to her

"Don't what?" she asked innocently

"Don't say anything."

"Wouldn't dream of it." She responded with a smile on her face.

They continued shopping for a little while longer mostly in silence

"Lily, Why wasn't I allowed to go on the date with Sirius on Sunday? Or tonight for that matter?"

"Well because Sunday is too far away, I don't think you could hold out that long before seeing him again and tonight is too soon obviously so tomorrow night it is"

"Right, makes perfect sense" Remus says, shaking his head at her. It doesn't make sense, to him at least.

"Besides, you and Sirius can meet up with James and I later, and that way there will be less of a temptation for either of us to have breakfast with our respective dates." Lily says matter of factly, as she grabs the cucumber out of their shopping basket. "If you know what I mean."


	10. Chapter 10

"What time are you meeting Sirius?" lily asked Remus as she was placing the last pancake on the stack for her and Remus's breakfast.

Remus, who was still half asleep, mumbled incoherently into his arms which where crossed on the table in front of him, acting as a headrest.

In a mock authoritive voice "In English please, I don't speak wolf," lily demanded.

"Ha hardy ha!" Remus said lifting his head from his arms. "I don't know" he whined, "It's too early to be awake, let alone be coherent".

"Well, you need to text him to find out," she told Remus as she placed the now finished stack of pancakes and a pot of tea on the table in front of Remus. "Eat."

"Yes Mum" he replied with a mock salute, then moved to pour the tea for himself and Lily as she place two pancakes onto Remus's plate and then here own.

Remus looked up at Lily after he finished pouring, she was smirking at him and there was only one thing that meant when they were having pancakes for breakfast. "Houses?" he asked her.

"Houses" she nodded in reply. "Three… two… one… go!"

In an almighty rush, both Remus and Lily grabbed their pancakes from in front of them, completely ignoring their cutlery tearing them up with their fingers into squares and attempting to organise the pieces in a way that resembled a house.

Remus had the walls leaning against each other and was attempting to put a roof on the top when Lily shouted, "done!" excitedly having finished her house. Remus was still looking at his house wondering how the hell she always managed to finish hers first when his pancake house collapsed in on itself. Remus shrugged with a smile on his face. It was just a silly game they had played when having pancakes since they were kids.

"Are we ever going to grow up?" Remus asked Lily as he reached for the sugar bowl and the lemon quarters. Lily was already smothering her pancake house in maple syrup.

"Who on earth would want to do that? I've herd it's awfully boring" Lily answered, then put a piece of pancake in her mouth.

Remus laughed and replied, "True" then shoved with a mouthful of pancake. "What time are you meeting James?"

"Seven" Lily replied. "He's picking me up here and before you ask where we are going, I have no Idea, James wouldn't tell me."

"Seven" Remus repeated slowly, emphasising each syllable while staring at the piece of pancake on his fork.

"Remus, text him"

"Ugh, you been ordering me around a bit lately."

"Only cause I have to" she said, pointing her fork at him. "Be proactive Remus!"

Remus groaned, it was still too early in the morning for him for being around peppy people. H loved Lily but she was a morning person and he was not.

"Text him, text him now!"

"Only if you do the washing up," Remus proposed as he flashed a cheeky smile at her.

"Deal" she said grabbing their dirty dishes, carrying them over to the sink in their small kitchen.

Remus grabbed his phone from the bench where it was charging. Texting was easy for him, well easier that talking to someone over the phone or in person, other than Lily of course. He often jumbled his words confusing the person he was talking to. _Act casual_ he thought to himself.

Remus: _Hey Sirius, it's Remus, just wondering what time for tonight?_

Sirius: **Remus! Hey! Ummm I was thinking I could come with James and pick you up from your place at 7**

Remus: _Sounds good, Looking forward to it_

Sirius: **Smiley face? Remus, really?**

Remus: _Yes_

Sirius: **Me too** **x**

Remus went warm and fuzzy inside, "Lily! He did an 'x'!"

"an 'x'?" she asked turning from the dishes to look at Remus

Remus made a kissy fish lips face at her.

"Ohh an 'x'" she laughed as she dried her hands on the tea towel so that she could read the text she just received. Remus was looking at her quizzically, trying to find out who was texting her because she was now giggling into her phone.

"It's James, he wants to know what's happening, Sirius wont tell him anything but apparently he's bouncing all over the place"

Remus couldn't respond to that, only smile broadly because it made him want to bounce around too. He went back to his phone leaving Lily to hers knowing that it was going to be almost impossible to continue their conversation now that she was texting James.

Remus: _Me too_ _x_

Remus: _Shit_

Sirius: **x**

There was a knock at the door. "That'll be them" Lily said, "I'll get it"

Remus followed Lily out of the kitchen nervously "Lils" he said desperately.

"Remus seriously!" Lily said then paused, realising what she just said then burst into laughter. "we're never going to be able to say that word again, are we?"

"Probably not" Remus replied, Lily just being Lily had miraculously helped Remus to calm down a bit, the swarm of butterflies had shrunk but not disappeared completely.

Lily grabbed his hand and squeezed in response while dragging him towards the door with her, only letting go just before pulling the door open.

James and Sirius stood next to each other just outside the door, Lily looked at Remus and knew she had already lost him as he was already looking at Sirius.

"Hi," Remus said to Sirius

"Hi" Sirius replied. He was bouncing slightly, excitedly on the balls of his feet with his hands behind his back.

Lily thought he looked a bit like an over excited puppy standing next to a rather content looking James. "James, do you want want to come in for a minute, until they're done making googly eyes at each other?"

"Sure, could be a while though" James replied. "It's lie no-ne else exists when they're around each other it's almost sickening" he continued making a disgusted face

"I see what you mean about the bounc…" Lily said to James, their voices faded out as they walking into the flat.

"Ready to go?"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Sirius answered. "Oh and you're going to need this." He said pulling out a motorbike helmet from behind him

"Oh my god! Are you serious?"

"Yes," Sirius dead panned, "Yes I am"


	11. Chapter 11

"No" Protested.

"Yes," Sirius retaliated.

"No."

"Remus, yes" Sirius urged. After finally managing to pull themselves away from each others eyes they yelled a couple of rushed goodbyes to Lily and James who were still talking in the kitchen, before Sirius had grabbed Remus's hand and almost dragged him down the stairs and out the front doors to his waiting motorbike.

The bike, Remus thought, looked a bit intimidating but he could tell that Sirius was proud of it just by his stance next to it, not to mention how clean and polished it was.

"I much rather my brains on the inside of my skull thankyou very much," Remus argued.

"That's why I bought a helmet for you," Sirius reasoned. "Not scared, are you?"

"No, I am not scared!" Remus defended. He wouldn't say he was scared but most definitely nervous about getting on the beast of a bike. "I just-"

"Are a bit of a worry wart," Sirius pointed out. Remus grumbled in response, yes, he was that too.

"Remus it'll be fine and the sooner you get on, the sooner you can get off"

Remus snickered.

"No, that's not what I meant," Sirius blushed and shook his head. He moved to swing his leg over the bike. "Elvendork has always been good to me so I have told them that they have to be good to you too."

"Ah that's Elvendork" remus realised, that had been playing on his mind during the week. Of course the bike had a name. "Wait," Remus paused, "you talk to your bike?"

"Of course" he replied then put his helmet on. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Remus, please, it's too far to walk" Sirius pleaded while putting extra effort into his puppy eyes so that Remus would notice them through the helmet's visor.

Remus gave in, "Fucking puppy eyes," he mumbled to himself as he took the extra helmet from Sirius and put it on.

"Sexy" Sirius commented

"Shut up" Remus grumbled; as he swung his leg over the bike to take his seat behind Sirius. He didn't know what to do with his hands, was he supposed to hug himself, stick his hands in the air and scream like on a rollercoaster. At that point Sirius reached back to grab Remus's hands, which he moved to wrap around himself tightly. _This is much nicer_ Remus thought. He was still trying to keep his distance a little bit from Sirius for more than one reason.

"Don't be shy Remus," Sirius said when he noticed Remus' s reluctance to move closer. "Just close your eyes and hold on tight" Sirius said with a cheeky smile as he grabbed Remus's legs and pulled Remus flush with his back. All Remus could do was blush and hope that certain body parts would behave.

Sirius turned the motor on and pulled out from the curb causing Remus to scrunch his eyes shut and grab onto Sirius even tighter.

Remus could feel Sirius's laugher rather than hear it over the roar of the engine. It miraculously helped to calm him down enough to open his eyes to see the cars, buildings and trees blur past them.

"Admit it Remus, it wasn't tat bad." Sirius said to Remus then pulled off, his hair slightly messed up from wearing the helmet. They were standing at the curb having just gotten off the bike after arriving wherever they were. Sirius brushed his hands through his hair to fix the messiness; Sirius black with less than perfect hair was never heard of.

"Where are we?" Remus asked pointedly ignoring what Sirius had just said. Remus was twisting his hands together and looking at his feet, not sure what to do as he hadn't gotten an answer from Sirius when all of a sudden two hands were near his jaw pulling the helmet from his head.

Sirius was standing very close to him, eyes locked with Remus's. Remus could feel the warmth of Sirius's breath on his face.

"Admit it" Sirius challenged Remus, and then stood there, staring and daring Remus to do something.

"Okay" Remus said, almost whispered. "It wasn't that bad.

Sirius smiled in response but didn't move away. After what felt like hours Sirius whispered to Remus "I really want to kiss you."

Remus held his breath; he really wanted Sirius to kiss him. _Please_ he said in his head.

"But I'm not going to," Sirius continued then turned away and walked over towards the door of the building they were standing in front of.

"Tease," Remus muttered under his breath but obviously not quietly enough because Sirius laughed as he put in a code to open the door. "Where are we?" Remus asked again as Sirius held the door open for him to go inside.

"You'll see" Sirius replied "it's a bit of a hike though, the lift is broken I'm afraid"

"That's okay."

They began climbing the stairs, only the sounds of their breathing filling the silence. They reached the landing of the seventh floor when Remus stopped and leant against the wall, catching his breath.

"How much further? My legs are all wobbly already," Remus complained.

"Mine are too," Sirius sympathised. "Only three more floors."

"But this building only has 9 floors"

"Exactly" Sirius exclaimed with a smile trying to encourage Remus to keep going. But Remus didn't move. "Looks like I'm going to have to use positive reinforcement."

Remus looked at him quizzically.

"I'm not going to tell you what the reward will be, you'll just have to get to the next floor's landing to find out" Sirius said as he took Remus's hand and began to pull him up the stairs. "Come on, it'll be worth it, trust me."

At those words Remus realised he did trust Sirius, he really did. It surprised him, it usually took a lot longer for Remus to let someone new in.

They reached the landing of the eighth floor and Sirius pulled Remus close to him. Remus was frozen.

"Your reward" Sirius said and leaned forward to kiss Remus on the cheek.

"You are such a fucking tease," Remus said to Sirius.

"I know" he replied with a cheeky smile, "but so are you."

"How am I am tease?" Remus asked, slightly outraged, as far as he knew he hadn't done anything to tease Sirius, so far. Sirius was already pulling him up the next lot of stairs.

Sirius was quiet until they reached the next landing of the ninth floor when he pulled Remus and said matter of factly "You exist," before planting a kiss on Remus's other cheek. "Nearly there Remus" Sirius said as he grabbed Remus's hand again for the final flight of stairs.

They reached the next landing but this time Sirius didn't reach for Remus; he instead reached for the door in front of them. "Ready? Sirius asked and squeezed Remus's hand.

"As I'll ever be" Remus replied and Sirius opened the door.


	12. Chapter 12

"No" Protested.

"Yes," Sirius retaliated.

"No."

"Remus, yes" Sirius urged. After finally managing to pull themselves away from each others eyes they yelled a couple of rushed goodbyes to Lily and James who were still talking in the kitchen, before Sirius had grabbed Remus's hand and almost dragged him down the stairs and out the front doors to his waiting motorbike.

The bike, Remus thought, looked a bit intimidating but he could tell that Sirius was proud of it just by his stance next to it, not to mention how clean and polished it was.

"I much rather my brains on the inside of my skull thankyou very much," Remus argued.

"That's why I bought a helmet for you," Sirius reasoned. "Not scared, are you?"

"No, I am not scared!" Remus defended. He wouldn't say he was scared but most definitely nervous about getting on the beast of a bike. "I just-"

"Are a bit of a worry wart," Sirius pointed out. Remus grumbled in response, yes, he was that too.

"Remus it'll be fine and the sooner you get on, the sooner you can get off"

Remus snickered.

"No, that's not what I meant," Sirius blushed and shook his head. He moved to swing his leg over the bike. "Elvendork has always been good to me so I have told them that they have to be good to you too."

"Ah that's Elvendork" remus realised, that had been playing on his mind during the week. Of course the bike had a name. "Wait," Remus paused, "you talk to your bike?"

"Of course" he replied then put his helmet on. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Remus, please, it's too far to walk" Sirius pleaded while putting extra effort into his puppy eyes so that Remus would notice them through the helmet's visor.

Remus gave in, "Fucking puppy eyes," he mumbled to himself as he took the extra helmet from Sirius and put it on.

"Sexy" Sirius commented

"Shut up" Remus grumbled; as he swung his leg over the bike to take his seat behind Sirius. He didn't know what to do with his hands, was he supposed to hug himself, stick his hands in the air and scream like on a rollercoaster. At that point Sirius reached back to grab Remus's hands, which he moved to wrap around himself tightly. _This is much nicer_ Remus thought. He was still trying to keep his distance a little bit from Sirius for more than one reason.

"Don't be shy Remus," Sirius said when he noticed Remus' s reluctance to move closer. "Just close your eyes and hold on tight" Sirius said with a cheeky smile as he grabbed Remus's legs and pulled Remus flush with his back. All Remus could do was blush and hope that certain body parts would behave.

Sirius turned the motor on and pulled out from the curb causing Remus to scrunch his eyes shut and grab onto Sirius even tighter.

Remus could feel Sirius's laugher rather than hear it over the roar of the engine. It miraculously helped to calm him down enough to open his eyes to see the cars, buildings and trees blur past them.

"Admit it Remus, it wasn't tat bad." Sirius said to Remus then pulled off, his hair slightly messed up from wearing the helmet. They were standing at the curb having just gotten off the bike after arriving wherever they were. Sirius brushed his hands through his hair to fix the messiness; Sirius black with less than perfect hair was never heard of.

"Where are we?" Remus asked pointedly ignoring what Sirius had just said. Remus was twisting his hands together and looking at his feet, not sure what to do as he hadn't gotten an answer from Sirius when all of a sudden two hands were near his jaw pulling the helmet from his head.

Sirius was standing very close to him, eyes locked with Remus's. Remus could feel the warmth of Sirius's breath on his face.

"Admit it" Sirius challenged Remus, and then stood there, staring and daring Remus to do something.

"Okay" Remus said, almost whispered. "It wasn't that bad.

Sirius smiled in response but didn't move away. After what felt like hours Sirius whispered to Remus "I really want to kiss you."

Remus held his breath; he really wanted Sirius to kiss him. _Please_ he said in his head.

"But I'm not going to," Sirius continued then turned away and walked over towards the door of the building they were standing in front of.

"Tease," Remus muttered under his breath but obviously not quietly enough because Sirius laughed as he put in a code to open the door. "Where are we?" Remus asked again as Sirius held the door open for him to go inside.

"You'll see" Sirius replied "it's a bit of a hike though, the lift is broken I'm afraid"

"That's okay."

They began climbing the stairs, only the sounds of their breathing filling the silence. They reached the landing of the seventh floor when Remus stopped and leant against the wall, catching his breath.

"How much further? My legs are all wobbly already," Remus complained.

"Mine are too," Sirius sympathised. "Only three more floors."

"But this building only has 9 floors"

"Exactly" Sirius exclaimed with a smile trying to encourage Remus to keep going. But Remus didn't move. "Looks like I'm going to have to use positive reinforcement."

Remus looked at him quizzically.

"I'm not going to tell you what the reward will be, you'll just have to get to the next floor's landing to find out" Sirius said as he took Remus's hand and began to pull him up the stairs. "Come on, it'll be worth it, trust me."

At those words Remus realised he did trust Sirius, he really did. It surprised him, it usually took a lot longer for Remus to let someone new in.

They reached the landing of the eighth floor and Sirius pulled Remus close to him. Remus was frozen.

"Your reward" Sirius said and leaned forward to kiss Remus on the cheek.

"You are such a fucking tease," Remus said to Sirius.

"I know" he replied with a cheeky smile, "but so are you."

"How am I am tease?" Remus asked, slightly outraged, as far as he knew he hadn't done anything to tease Sirius, so far. Sirius was already pulling him up the next lot of stairs.

Sirius was quiet until they reached the next landing of the ninth floor when he pulled Remus and said matter of factly "You exist," before planting a kiss on Remus's other cheek. "Nearly there Remus" Sirius said as he grabbed Remus's hand again for the final flight of stairs.

They reached the next landing but this time Sirius didn't reach for Remus; he instead reached for the door in front of them. "Ready? Sirius asked and squeezed Remus's hand.

"As I'll ever be" Remus replied and Sirius opened the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Sirius smiled at Remus. "Come on then, come sit down," Sirius insisted. "I'm starving!" he exclaimed dramatically and sat down on the picnic blanket.

"Sirius you are not starving, you are hungry. There are people in third world countries who are starving and you are not one of them," Remus pointed out. "So dramatic."

"Ok, I concede" Sirius sighed loudly. "I am not starving and I am very dramatic and you will learn to love my dramatic…" Sirius paused thoughtfully, unsure of how to finish the word "…ness!"

 _I think I already do Remus_ thought and sighed.

"And you are starting to make me hangry because you have not put your tush on the ground yet," Sirius continued grabbing Remus's hand, tugging lightly to encourage Remus to sit down.

"Hangry? My tush?" Remus inquired with an arched eyebrow as he sat down and maneuvererd his long legs into a comfortable sitting position next to Sirius.

"Cross between hungry and angry, though it's probably more like irritated hungriness," Sirius explained, "and yes, your tush," Sirius agreed. "unless you like me to call it something else like your booty"

Remus laughed and shook his head. "Derrière? Badonkadonk? Bubble-butt?" Sirius continued to suggest as he started to pull containers of food out of the basket. "How about donk?" Sirius suggested.

Remus laughed. "Haven't heard that one before."

The pair descended into silence as Sirius finished placing items from the basket.

Sirius suddenly turned to Remus and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Sexy globes?"

Remus burst out laughing, causing him to roll back onto the grass. Sirius twisted around to face Remus who was rolling on the grass and joined in with Remus's laughter, he just couldn't help himself. As Remus was settling down from his laugher and attempting to get his breathing back under control, Sirius leant forward over Remus and placed a kiss on Remus's cheek.

"What was that for?

Because I wanted to," Sirius explained. "Come on, let's eat."

There was so much food, way to much for 2 people to eat, there was what looked like 3 different salads, a platter of different deli meats and a couple of other dished that Remus had no idea of what they were but they sure smelled delicious.

"Umm… Sirius?" Remus asked, "What are we supposed to eat with?" realising that there was no cutlery to eat with.

Sirius froze "Shit!" he exclaimed, "I knew I forgot something. I'll just go downstai–"

Remus grabbed Sirius's hand as he made to get up "Sirius, don't worry about it, we can just use our fingers"

"Okay" Sirius replied timidly as he sat back down again. Remus leant forward to grab one of the containers, shirt riding up his back slightly, exposing a strip of skin. Remus smiled to himself when he noticed the unmistakable movement of Sirius leaning back slightly for a better view of his arse.

The two ate companionably, talking about what they did with their time; Sirius and aspiring artist living off his parent's fortune and Remus with his job at the Bookshop Café. When Remus asked about Sirius's family he tensed up and said, I'll tell you about them some day, but not today. Remus left it there, Sirius could tell him in his own time. They continued their easy conversation, learning about the other's life until they had both finished eating.

Sirius put away they left-over food before saying to Remus "I hope you've left room for desert." Digging through the picnic basket again Sirius pulled out a container of fresh strawberries, a bowl of melted chocolate and a can of whipped cream.

Remus groaned at the sight. "Marry me!" he exclaimed. Anyone who included chocolate to eat on a first date was a keeper in Remus's books.

Sirius laughed and replied, "not yet," as he grabbed a strawberry and dipped it into the chocolate and held it up for Remus to take a bite. Remus paused and looked Sirius in the eyes before leaning forward and biting into the strawberry, his lips brushing Sirius's fingers as he did so.

Sirius re-evaluated the current position he was sitting in and decided that if this was going to continue he needed to change positions as to hide any embarrassing situations that may arise.

After a few more strawberries for each of them, Sirius grabbed the whipped cream can and filled his mouth. "Yum!" he exclaimed with a mouthful of whipped cream.

"Ew!" Remus exclaimed, "so unhygienic!"

Sirius took that as a challenge and pounced forward onto Remus with the can of whipped cream in hand. Remus fell backwards onto the grass with Sirius half on top of him holding to nozzle of the can towards his mouth "This is the best way to eat whipped cream!" Sirius said as he poked the can at Remus's lips, "admit it!"

Remus didn't say anything at first but Sirius kept poking. "Alright! I give! I give" Remus relented.

"Open" Sirius said to Remus. Remus did and Sirius filled his mouth with whipped cream before throwing the can over his shoulder back towards the basket.

"I am so fucking full!" Sirius exclaimed as he stretched and turned to lie down on the grass beside Remus, using Remus's stomach as a pillow. "I have a food baby, look Remus!" Sirius said as he patted his hands on his stomach. "What should we name our baby Remus?" Sirius asked had he took Remus's hand and began to play with his long fingers. "We only have until tomorrow to come up with a name before I give birth."

"Oh my god, are you Serious? You really want to name your shit."

"I am always Sirius" Sirius grinned in response. Remus just rolled his eyes. Sirius continued, "James named his Yoda once because it was sligh–"

"Oh my god, change of topic please!"

"You are quite squeamish aren't you?, okay, what is your favourite…"

The pair continued to talk for a long time, Sirius still playing with Remus's hand before falling into comfortable silence as they looked up at the sky, now a deep navy colour but not quite truly night-time. Neither could be bothered to move or even wanted to move, they were too comfortable. The two fell asleep hand in hand under that stars.


	14. Chapter 14

Remus groaned. _Where the fuck am I?_ he asked himself, having not yet opened his eyes because of the sunlight that was glaring in his eyes. He was lying on his back on what felt like grass and a blanket. Remus felt content lying there, not wanting to move. There was a heavy weight on is shoulder and a warm presence pressed into his side making Remus wish he could fall asleep again just to wake up again to that feeling.

Remus heard a rumbling sound right next to his ear ,which unnerved him slightly. He instantly opened his eyes despite the glare to find out what it was.

"Ohhh" Remus said almost inaudibly, realising finally where he was and why he was there.

He remembered Sirius' and his antics the previous night, to get Remus up the many flights of stairs and while conversing during their date last night. He supposed the date was still going because they had not yet parted.

Currently Sirius had his head resting on Remus' shoulder with his face pressed into Remus' neck, his hair strewn everywhere and snoring his head off. Sirius' body was pressed tightly into Remus' side, one arm draped over Remus' mid-section and one leg thrown over Remus' holding on tightly like nothing could ever separate them.

Remus couldn't deny that have Sirius pressed against him was something he could defiantly get used to. He looked towards the sky noting that the sun was well and truly up and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful sunny day. He didn't want to wake Sirius up just yet, he looked and felt peaceful even though he was still snoring away.

Remus took a deep breath in hoping to breath in some of the smells of the day and some much needed oxygen but instead ended up with a bunch of Sirius' hair up his nose making Remus sneeze loudly and jolted his body into sitting upright, pushing Sirius to the side in the process.

 _So much for not waking him up_ , Remus thought when he noticed Sirius stirring but all Sirius did was roll himself onto his stomach with his hands tucked tightly under his chin and his bum slightly raised in the air. He then promptly began snoring again.

Adorable, Remus thought and relaxed, then shook his head to get rid of that thought immediately like it should not have been there in the first place.

"Better wake him up" Remus mumbled to himself and reached a hand over to brush Sirius' hair from his face.

"Sirus," Remus whispered in an attempt to wake Sirius up gently, which didn't' work.

"Sirius," he said again now at normal speaking volume, which still didn't work. Remus sighed, he didn't want to have to do this.

"Sirius! Wake the fuck up!" Remus yelled into Sirius' ear.

"Fuck!" Sirius exclaimed and scrambled into a sitting position next to Remus. "Good morning" Sirius said to Remus with a massive smile on his face, a little to chirpily for Remus's tastes in the morning.

"Morning" Remus replied as he stretched his arms above his head. He suddenly noticed a small wet patch on his shoulder where Sirius had been sleeping earlier.

"Eww… you dribbled on me in your sleep!" Remus exclaimed.

"One thing that you will learn about me Remus, is that I sleep like the dead—"

"Really? I've never heard of a dead person that snores, is clingy and slobbers everywhere."

"— and I cannot be held accountable for what I do when I am asleep" Sirius stated manner of factly ignoring Remus' interruption. "And you will get used to my saliva."

Remus blushed hopefully.

"Definitely should not have fallen asleep here, I'm going to feel stiff all day" Remus said as he stretched out his legs in front of himself.

Sirius snickered in response

"Get your mind out of the gutter, it already seems to spend quite a lot of time down there." Remus said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

 _Shit!_ 8 missed calls and 3 texts, all from Lily. Shit! Remus forgot about meeting up with Lily and James later in the evening

Lily: **Answer your phone dummy!**

Lily: **Remus! Where are you? Do you not know how to answer you phone? Are you dead?**

Lily: **If you are dead I am going to fucking kill you!**

"I'm going to give Lily a quick call," Remus said to Sirius as he stood up. Remus walked over to a bench seated in between two trees a little way away from Sirius who was now also looking at his phone, now sitting cross-legged on the crumpled picnic blanket.

Remus took a moment to mentally prepare him for all hell breaking loose when his called Lily. There was no denying that she was fierce and you never wanted to get on her bad side.

"Remus! Thank fuck! Where the hell are you?"

"Lily, I'm fine, I'm still with Sirius."

"Did you…?" Lily asked, Remus could see her eyebrows waggling in his mind.

"No, We did not." Reus answered but couldn't help himself from asking her the same question. "Did you?

"No, Ha." She replied, slightly embarrassed. "We actually fell asleep while watching a movie."

Remus couldn't help himself but laugh.

"What!? Why are you laughing?" Lily asked.

"Sirius and I fell asleep here too"

"Oh my," lily said " we really are hopeless aren't we?"

"Yes," Remus answered. "Yes we are."

"James is still asleep," Lily whispered. "Come home and I'll cook brunch for the four of us."

"Pancakes and bacon?" Remus asked hopefully.

"Yes Remus, I can cook pancakes and bacon"

"Thank you, Lils," Remus said with a smile in his voice. "We'll be back soon."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Remus hung up the phone and walked back over to Sirius who was still looking at his phone.

"James is still at mine and Lily's place, still asleep," Remus told Sirius.

"That would explain why he's not answering is phone." Sirius replied.

Sirius's stomach just then made a loud rumble, causing him to look down and mumble something at his stomach.

"Lily said she's going to cook brunch for the four of us" Remus said to Sirius

Sirius hummed in agreement. "Lets walk back it's not that far" Sirius suggested to Remus and took his hand.

 _That is a very god idea indeed_ , Remus thought.


	15. Chapter 15

The pair walked out of the front doors of the building into the warm and slightly blinding sunlight.

"Is it ok to leave Elvendork here?" Remus asked Sirius. "And how will you get back later?"

"She'll be fine, James and I'll walk back later, I'm sure he won't mind the walk"

"Ok" Remus replied as they began walking along the footpath. They walked along in silence for a while, just enjoying the presence of each other, also because Sirius didn't seem quite awake just yet. They decided to take the short cut through the local park, which was about 3 blocks away from James and Sirius' flat.

The park had large old oak trees that lined the main path through the centre of the park. There was a large playground off to one side of the path, only a couple of children were playing on it at this time of morning with their parents watching on. Remus assumed most parents would be attempting to have a sleep in seeing as it was a Sunday morning.

Sirius couldn't help himself though, now being more than awake after walking a couple of blocks. He ran over to the playground with Remus in tow. He let go of Remus' hand in order to climb the ladder, too run over the wobbly chain bridge, up another ladder to a tower, stopping to spin the pretend ship's wheel and yell "Yo ho, me hearties, yo ho!", crawl through the tunnel to get to another tower and then slide down the curviest and longest slide on the playground while squealing like a little kid. Remus rolled his eyes, _he really is just a big kid_ , he thought.

Remus could see some adults on the other side of the playground giving Sirius a disapproving look. Another parent who was a bit closer to Remus was attempting to get their child to get off the playground to go home.

"Come on, Lucy, It's time to go now." They could be heard saying to the child, who promptly sat down on the tower and started throwing a tantrum, throwing their hands and feet around. The parent looked over to Remus and offered an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry," Remus said to the parent, "mine's probably going to throw a tantrum too when I try to get him to leave" nodding towards Sirius.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled having no idea where Sirius now was in the playground "Time to go"

A small "Noooooooo!" could be heard from the inside of a long green tunnel in the middle of the playground.

"Lily Is cooking Pancakes and Bacon for brunch" Remus yelled back.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," could be heard repeatedly from the playground, slowly getting louder as Sirius came running out from the side of the playground towards Remus.

Remus realised that Sirius was not slowing down and heading straight towards him so he braced for impact, which didn't come. Sirius' hands grabbed onto one of Remus' and pulled Remus along towards the path. Remus had to jog alongside Sirius in order to keep up.

When they reached the path again they slowed to a walk, still hand in hand.

"I've always wanted to do that," Sirius said to Remus, "James never lets me, says I'd embarrass him."

"Can't see why" Remus sad sarcastically earning him a punch to the arm from Sirius with a smile.

The pair continued to walk in companionable silence for a while, walking past more blocks of flats and shops. They started walking over a footbridge that went over a busy freeway that always seemed to have a lot of cars on it no matter the time or the day.

In the middle of the bridge Remus stopped and let go of Sirius' hand to lean over the edge and look at the cars speeding past on their way to wherever they were going on a Sunday morning. Sirius walked over and joined standing by the barrier taking in the view. Sirius was looking at Remus

 _He really doesn't understand just how hot he is_ , Sirius thought as he watched Remus who was mesmerised by the sight below them, the breeze pushing his light brown curls around on his head.

Suddenly, Remus turned to Sirius with a mischievous look on his face almost identical to the one that Sirius gave Remus on the night of the charity ball. It startled Sirius slightly; he hadn't thought of the possibility that Remus could be just as much of a mischief-maker as he was. Sirius liked the thought of that.

Remus grabbed Sirius's hands from the barrier and manoeuvred him back so that he was now standing about two metres from the barrier.

"Stay here" Remus said as he let go of Sirius's hands and took a couple of steps backwards. Sirius had no idea what was going to happen and was a little bit nervous and made to take a step forward again towards Remus.

"No," Remus said, "stay."

Sirius froze in his place and gave Remus a quizzical look, having no idea what was about to happen but Remus just gave him a mischievous smirk back.

Remus bent forward and grabbed the waistband of his jeans and boxers, pulling them down exposing his backside to the cars below them. Numerous cars started honking as they drove by while Remus held his pose.

Sirius was gobsmacked, his jaw hanging wide open. Precious Remus, his Remus, just mooned who knows how many people over the barrier of a footbridge.

Remus pulled his boxers and jean back into place. The whole thing lasted less that a minute but Remus couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for doing that.

"Close your mouth you might start drooling again" Remus said as he grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him along as it seemed he was still unable to function properly.

They were now only 3 blocks away from Remus and Lily's flat. They had continued walking for a few blocks without saying anything while Sirius slowly pulled himself out of is stupor. Remus was growing increasingly worried the longer it took Sirius to say something.

"Oh my god!" Sirius said suddenly stopping misstep, startling Remus. "I just came up with the best nickname for you"

"Oh no," Remus said, genuinely worried. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."

Sirius paused for a few seconds, too add to the drama.

"Moony!"

"Oh god no!" Remus begged, "Please, no!"

"Mooooooonny! Moony, Moony, Moonikins" Sirius sing-songed.

"Fuck!" Remus said exasperated, "I'm really not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope, my mind is made up, my little Moonbeam, your new nickname is Moony and it's stuck so you can't change it" finishing his sentence by tapping Remus on the nose then continuing to walk along the path. Remus let out an exasperated sigh and followed Sirius along the path, he was never going to live this one down.

A car was driving towards the two honking it's horn loudly, Remus and Sirius were only a block away form the flat now. As the car came closer the honking ceased but voices could be head yelling from the open windows

"Quick down here" Sirius said as he pulled Remus down behind a bush in someone's front yard.

"Go back in the closet Black!" was the clearest of the yelling that Remus heard as the car sped past. Remus heard a number of clattering sounds that he assumed were empty cans that had been thrown from the car in their direction. The car sped off with the sounds of loud laughter coming from inside.

Remus turned to Sirius who was still crouched beside him looking visibly shaken. Sirius had his eyes closed, his skin turned to an almost sickly grey colour and he had his arms wrapped tightly around his middle as if to protect himself.

"Sirius?" Remus asked, "What the fuck was that?"

Sirius shook his head and stood up from behind the bush and out onto the path again. Remus took off after Sirius taking a few seconds to catch up to him because he was walking so fast. Remus grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him around to face himself.

"You need to explain to me what the fuck just happened, because they obviously know you."

Sirius just shook his head again, looking down to the ground.

"No one," Remus said as he took Sirius' face into his hands so that Sirius was looking directly into Remus's eyes. "No one, should ever treat you like that. No one, should ever be made to feel like that. We need to talk about this."

"Not now, please" Sirius begged quietly, looking away from Remus' eyes, "later." Sirius still looked slightly shaken but not as much as when they were crouched behind the bush.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Remus let go of Sirius' face and grabbed his hand to walk the last block to his and Lily's flat.

They reached the flat quickly, Sirius looking better and almost back to his normal self.

Remus held open the door to the building to allow Sirius to go through. Their hands brushed as he passed and their eyes met, unable to take their eyes off one another, Remus was looking concerned for Sirius. Sirius gave Remus a small smile to let him know he was ok.


	16. Chapter 16

"Come in, make yourself at home," Remus said to Sirius while holding the door open wide to let him through.

"Ok" Sirius replied, already halfway through taking off his jacket and shucking off his shoes.

Remus was closing the door when Lily cam rushing up to them, shushing them to be quiet.

"James is still asleep," she said

"You didn't wake him up?" Remus asked. Sirius walked over to look at his friend lying fast asleep on the sofa

"He's just too adorable all snuggled into the sofa like that, he's really holding on tight to that cushion"

Sirius had come back to life at the sight of his friend still asleep

"Remus?" Sirius asked looking over at James "can I?"

"Go ahead" Remus answered. "You don't need my permission."

Sirius took a step backwards the all of a sudden rushed forwards and pounced on James and started wrestling him

"Aarrrghh, Sirius you little shit" James exclaimed as he was woken roughly.

Both Remus and Lily laughed at their antics.

"He really is like a puppy dog" Lily whispered into Remus' ear while still watching the wrestling.

"You should have seen him at the park!" Remus whispered back.

Sirius' shirt had ridden up at the back from the commotion and Remus couldn't help but peek at the exposed skin of Sirius' back. He felt slightly disappointed when James and Sirius finished with their tussle and were fixing their clothing, and hair in Sirius' case, back into place.

The wrestling was settling down now and both participants were righting themselves.

"What are you two lovelies conspiring about over there?" Sirius asked when He spotted Lily and Remus whispering to each other.

But before either of them could reply James spoke up. "Sirius black everyone, ever the ladies man."

"Except for the fact that I am most definitely very, very gay." Sirius pointed out with a wink at Remus, causing him to blush yet again.

"Yes, there is that," James agreed. His gleeful expression changed suddenly to one of concern when he looked at Sirius properly for the first time that morning. "Something's wrong." He said.

"Not now James." Sirius said, almost whispered. Knowing well that James and him self, being so close were able to pick up almost instantly if something was wrong with the other.

"You can't hide it from me Sirius, You're my brother."

"James" Sirius said in warning.

"What happened?" James continued to push.

"Fuck off James"

"No" James said in concern, he voice dropping, "was it them again?"

"James, leave it." Sirius warned again.

"It was," James said looking intently at Sirius, "what did they do this time?"

Sirius gave James a look that said 'shut the fuck up now or you are never going to hear about it'

"Fine," James said raising his hands in defeat. "I'll leave it for now but you better fucking spill later," James finished, pointing his index finger at Sirius.

"Come on, Moony" Lily said with a cheekily smile as she used Remus's new nickname. "Come help me finish cooking," she continued as she tugged lightly at Remus's sleeve to get him to follow, leaving James and Sirius to their now polite conversation.

As soon as the two reached the kitchen, Remus rounded on Lily.

"How the fuck do you know that name?"

"Sirius texted it to me, probably to James as well" She explained, "Told me that your official new nickname is Moony and that I now have to use it all the time."

"And can you please explain to me how you have his number"

At that question Lily looked down at her feet, slightly embarrassed.

"What did you do?" Remus asked.

"I might have asked James for his number, then sent if the obligatory big sister 'If you hurt him I'll hurt you' speech" She mumbled still looking at her feet.

"Lils," said Remus unable to hide his broad smile, as he walked over to her and pulled her into a warm hug. "This is just another reason why I love you."

At that moment James and Sirius walked into the kitchen. Remus let go of Lily to go and lean against the bench next to the sink. Sirius chose to sit atop the bench beside Remus and James walked over to lean against the bench leaning slightly into Lily.

"We were having a tense debate while back in the lounge." Sirius said to everyone. He didn't get a reply from anyone so he continued in a mimicking voice. "Tell us Sirius, what were you and james debating about?"

"Of course" Sirius continued now talking again with his regular voice. "We were debating about whether the toilet roll, when on the toilet roll holder, should have the paper hanging over or under and we couldn't agree. I thing it should be under but James think it should be over."

Lily let out a loud laugh causing her to nearly drop the spatula she was using to flip the pancakes. "Definitely over," She contributed.

"Remus?" Sirius asked giving Remus us pleading look as if to say 'pretty please side with me'.

"Sorry" Remus said unable to hide the laughter in his voice, "I agree with James on this one."

Sirius humphed and began to pout.

Lily turned around with a plate full of pancakes and bacon. "No need to pout, brunch is ready" she said as she promptly walked over to the small wooden dining table that was set for the four of them.

Sirius's Stomach grumbled in response.

"What I would really like to know is how this new nickname came about?" lily said as she finished whipping her mouth with a napkin having just finished her meal.

Remus blushed and groaned and thumped his head on the table in front of him, knowing there was no hope for him now.

Sirius set about explaining what happened for Remus to earn his new nickname. His arms flying around in the air animatedly adding to the dramatics of the story. Remus couldn't help but turn his head from its position still on the table to watch Sirius.

James was now laughing his head off causing everyone to join in.

When they had settled down again, Lily just shrugged her shoulders and said "not the first time that has happened, not even the second or third actually." Which set everyone off again.

"It seems that moony here has a tendency for bearing his arse in public" James said when they had finally finished laughing. He thumped Sirius on the shoulder as said "Good luck with that mate," causing Sirius to blush uncharacteristically.

The four of them walked towards the door to say their goodbyes. The polite conversation was quite awkward and Remus could see that everyone was a little uncomfortable. Sirius was looking at his feet. Remus saw James and Lily exchange a look.

"For fucks sake!" Remus exclaimed when he realised why the sudden awkwardness. He grabbed Sirius's hand and pulled him back into the flat and over to the hallway out of the view of James and Lily. Remus Pushed Sirius up against the wall, his hands against the wall either side of Sirius; head, making sure to keep his body a couple of inches away from Sirius' not matter how tempting it was to just lean against him, his body completely flush with Sirius'.

Remus leaned his head in towards Sirius so that their noses were almost touching. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask permission.

"If your not going to kiss me yet, I'm going to kiss you," he whispered.

Sirius gave a small but eager nod. Remus closed the distance between their two mouths. In a sweet soft kiss that only lasted a couple of seconds before pulling away.

Remus opened his eyes, took one look at Sirius who was standing there with his eyes still closed and his mouth slightly open. Remus couldn't help himself and crashed his lips back against Sirius', earning his a startled gasp which Remus took advantage of immediately by pushing Sirius' lips open wider with his own.

It was everything Remus had been hoping for. The way Sirius was kissing him back was just so… Sirius and Remus couldn't deny he loved every second of it.

When they finally broke apart after an unknown amount of time, due to the desperate need for oxygen Sirius started babbling breathlessly, "I know that this date was because I won you at the Charity ball but I really like you Remus and I was wondering if you would like—"

Remus broke Sirius' speech with another quick chaste kiss, already knowing his answer even though the question had not yet been asked.

"Yes"

Remus felt Sirius relax in his arms like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders and saw a smile slowly dawn on his face.

"I really like you too," Remus said before backing away from Sirius and taking his hand to lead him back over to James and Lily.

Remus and Lily had just flopped onto the sofa beside each other, having just said their reluctant goodbyes to James and Sirius. At the same time the turned to look at each other with broad grins on their faces, busting into a fit of giggles at seeing the other's face.

There was a knock at the door. _Who could that be now?_ Remus thought.

Remus got up from his position beside Lily on the couch to see who it was. Opening the door, Remus discovered that it was Sirius again less than 5 minutes since he and James had left.

"I, umm…" Sirius said. "I forgot my shoes" he finished looking down at his feet and wriggling his toes.

Remus stepped aside so that Sirius could grab his shoes and pull them on.

When finished, Sirius stood again in the door way, He looked up to catch Remus watching him thoughtfully, locking eyes with each other, unable to look away.

"What's taking so long Remus?" lily called from the sofa as she poked her head up to look at who was at the door. "Oh my god, stop with the eye fucking already!" she exclaimed exasperatedly when she saw who was at the door.

"I better go" Sirius mumbled, slightly embarrassed at having been caught again.

"Bye again" he said then lent in and placed one last peck on Remus' lips before dashing back down the hall and down the stairs with a little wave. Remus closed the door and couldn't help smiling.


	17. Chapter 17

After reluctantly closing the door behind Sirius, Remus stood for a moment to compose himself, he touched his fingers to his lips, that had been… Remus didn't have a word to describe it. Remus took deep breath.

Remus kicked off his shoes near the door and walked back over to the well worn but oh so comfy sofa. Lily had also discarded her shoes and was now half sitting, half lying on the sofa with her legs tucked underneath herself. Remus flopped back down next to Lily, stretching his legs out in front of himself sighing as he did so.

Lily took advantage of Remus' position and re-arranged herself so that she was facing Remus with her back leaning against to arm of the sofa and her sock covered feet were resting on Remus' lap. Remus pulled the cream coloured chunky knit blanket from the back of the couch and spreading it out over Lily and his own laps putting his feet up on the coffee table as he did so.

The pair sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts of the last 24 hours.

"So…" Lily said breaking the silence.

"Hmm, so…" Remus replied, turning to look at Lily, already knowing what she was about to ask.

"How was last night?" she asked.

Remus, as hard as he tried not to, couldn't help the broad smile that crept onto his face. At the sight of her friend's smile Lily couldn't help but smile broadly too, causing her to burst into silly and infectious giggles that soon caused Remus to join in.

"It was nice," Remus replied after he and Lily had finally composed themselves.

"Just nice?"

"It was really nice" Remus answered, still smiling. "You"

"Same" Lily replied, also still smiling.

The two lapsed back into comfortable silence. Remus couldn't help but think about Sirius. Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. Remus found Sirius's almost childish excitement about the small things rather enlightening, _not something you find everyday_. Remus couldn't help but think about those eyes, those stormy, mysterious eyes that held a million stories. And those lips, those soft delicious lips that he really wanted to become better acquainted with. He couldn't believe how comfortable he felt around Sirius, it was unusual for himself, he thought, meeting and getting to know new people often cause him some anxiety but that anxiety just wasn't present with Sirius. Remus felt himself beginning to fall asleep with the pleasant thoughts still on his mind when Lily broke the silence again.

"We should do something this afternoon," she said.

"We are doing something," Remus supplied with his eyes still closed, " we're napping."

Lily kicked him lightly. "You know what I mean Remus"

"Things are starting to change," she said. Remus lazily turned his head to look at her. "In a good way, I think" she added with a slight smile, seeing his expression. "but I feel as if we need to take the time for us to just hang out for a bit,

"Bro's before hoes?" Remus asked raising an eyebrow.

"ha!" Lily blurted out uncharacteristically, "But exactly"

"I have work at 2" Remus pointed out to Lily

"Damn, we have three hours" she responded.

Both took a moment to think of something they could do together that didn't take much time or money. Remus came up empty.

"We haven't been to see the dorks this week" Lily Suggested as she slowly pushed the blanket off herself and stood up from the sofa.

The dorks, otherwise known as Dorcas and Marlene ran the coffee shop a block away. When Lily and Remus first moved into their flat one of the first things they did was snoop out the closest coffee shop just in case Remus ran out of chocolate and had one of his chocolate emergencies. After only two weeks 'The Bean' had become their local haunt. Remus and Lily often found themselves there at least two or three times a week, despite the fact that Remus himself worked in a bookshop café.

Lily had dubbed the two owner managers 'the dorks' because of the way they acted around each other. They were absolutely and undoubtedly smitten with each other. They had been together since before Lily and Remus had met them and their dorky banter, bickering and mucking around had earned them their name.

Lily held out her hands, offering to help Remus up from the sofa.

"Don't wanna move! Too comfy!" Remus whinged, despite suddenly craving one of Marlene's special hot chocolates.

"Come on

"Ugh" Remus groaned as he moved his feet off the coffee table and took Lily's hands who promptly pulled him to his feet.

"Put my shoes on for me"

"God you're needy" she scoffed, "and no, just go put your bunny slippers on if you can't be bothered. It's not like you haven't worn them there before."

Remus groaned as he picked up his shoes as started to put them on. "You're still not going to let me live that down, are you?"

"You know it" she answered walking over to the table by the door and grabbing the keys, "serves you right for drinking so much the night before and being severely hungover"

"I was only slightly hangover and I wasn't the only one drinking that night," Remus stated while pulling I distinctly remember you attempting to pole dance on the light pole on the pavement outside and ending up on their ass"

"Shut up" Lily said to Remus embarrassed as she bent down to pick up her bag from the floor. Remus laughed and walked over to Lily, pulling her into a hug.

"Don't know what I'd do without you Lils" Remus said to here sincerely.

"I don't know what I'd do without you either," She replied snaking her arms around him and hugging him back.

"Come on, lets go," Remus said as he let go of her. He opened the door and walked though it, looking over his shoulder to check if Lily was following him. She walked though the door following him and closed the door behind her.


	18. Chapter 18

The bell on the door rang out as Lily and Remus opened the door to 'The Bean', alerting those inside to their entry. The strong smell of freshly brewed coffee and undertones of chocolate entered their senses as they walked through the door, making Remus relax at the comforting smell.

'The Bean' could only be described as one word; eclectic. Every piece of furniture and decor in the place had been bought from a second hand store and fixed up if necessary by the pair to use in their shop, even the coffee machine and cold display were second hand. Everything was individual here, no one chair was the same as another, on every couch you would find at least 3 different cushions all with a different pattern and on the walls were a variety of different paintings that Dorcas and Marlene had collected. The pair had cleverly used a variety of patterned rugs to create different zones in the shop where groups or individuals could sit creating a comfortable environment that felt 'just like your own home, sort of' as Marlene often said.

A head popped up over the coffee machine, it would have looked odd to anyone who wasn't a regular here, who didn't know that the barstool situated behind the coffee machine and bench was Marlene's spot. Marlene, as she spotted who had just walked in, broke into a broad smile and started squealing loudly, earning the stares of a few of the other customers. She ran out from behind the counter to pull both Lily and Remus into a tight hug that left them both slightly breathless.

Marlene was often described as the wilder of the two her long blonde hair often frizzed slightly making her look like she fit the description. You also often found her wearing black combat boots and tight black jeans but matched with a blouse that you would normally think would not go well with the boots but it worked for her.

They heard a clatter come form out the back of the shop and urgent almost panicked footsteps heading towards them.

"What the fuck has happened now, Marl-," Dorcas paused, then ran over to join the group hug that was happening near the counter "Oh, it has been way too long! It's good to see you both!" she mumbled into Lily's arm as she squashed them all tighter together.

"It's only been a week," Remus stated as they separated from the hug, but couldn't help smiling.

"I still stand by my statement," She said as she turned from the group.

Dorcas was described as the more proper of the two, the one who kept Marlene in check when she became too wild. Dorcas had ombre brown hair cut into a bob, which often looked slightly spiky at the ends. She always wore suit pants and a dress shirt to work even if it was 35 degrees (Celsius) outside but when at home she was a track pants, singlet and Ugg boots kind of person.

She walked over to the display of food, grabbing a couple of plates and began piling it up with food. "The usual I presume? Marlene go make love to your machine."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Marlene mock saluted and marched back over to the coffee machine to make their coffees and Remus's special hot chocolate.

Lily and Remus wandered over to their favourite 'zone', which was thankfully free from other customers. Remus dropped himself down into what was deemed 'his spot' and Lily sat on the couch opposite him. Dorcas came over carrying a number of plates, placing one overly large slice of chocolate cake in front of Remus who groaned out loud at the sight of it. Dorcas sat down next to Lily, leaving the seat next to Remus free for Marlene, who dropped into it less than a minute later while placing their drinks on the coffee table in front of them.

"That was quick" Lily said to Marlene.

"Just like magic," she replied with wink.

Lily laughed, took a sip of her coffee and sigh in contentment.

"So how did the charity ball go? I know it was two weeks ago but we didn't get to chat much the last time you were here"

"Really well, the plan went off without a hitch." Lily Replied.

"What plan?" Remus asked suspiciously

"Umm the plan to get you to go in the bachelor auction" Lily replied weakly.

"Lily" Remus said warningly.

"Oh, alright, I knew that you would stress too much and end up pulling out if I asked you before the ball so I asked you last minute to make sure you didn't have enough time to think to much about it. She explained with a nervous smile. "And it worked, really well" she added with a wink.

Remus felt angry with her for a moment that she had tricked him into it, his anger obviously showing on his face as Lily was still looking at him nervously. When he thought about that night and what eventuated from it he felt his anger slipping away again.

"Your lucky I love you, Lils" he said to Lily who smiled back then continued talking to Marlene and Dorcas about what happened that night. Lily thankfully skipped over names when giving details about the auction knowing that Both Dorcas and Marlene knew of James Potter and didn't want to give much away at this point. Remus Jumped slightly when both Marlene and Dorcas gasped aloud when they heard how much money it took to win Remus.

Remus zoned out from the conversation being had by Lily and Marlene, he couldn't help if his mind had once again slipped into thoughts of stormy grey eyes, chiselled jawline, long black hair tied in a bun and oh so soft and pliant lips. Remus didn't notice that Dorcas was eyeing Remus thoughtfully as he daydreamed and sipped his drink.

"So, what's his name, Remus?" she asked

"Sir—" Lily started but wasn't able to finish because Remus had jabbed her in the side with his elbow.

"What are you talking about Dorcas?"

"Remus, don't play dumb with me, you're the brightest I've seen you in a while, you can't keep a slight smile off your face, but It's not a 'I'm generally happy' smile, it's a 'something or someone has made me happy' smile. Now, spill or I'll put Marls onto you."

At the mention of her name Marlene turned to face Remus with a mischievous and slightly evil smile, ready and waiting for Dorcas' command.

"Th-there's nothing to spill Dorcas, I—" Remus replied

"Go" Dorcas said, indicating to Marlene to jump on him. Marlene wrapped one arm around Remus's neck and proceeded to give him a noogie.

"Alright! Alright!, call off the hound Dorcas"

"Okay," Dorcas said making Marlene sit in her seat again. "Good Girl"

"Yes there is someone, but there isn't anything to say about it."

"Okay, we'll leave it for now but you have to tell us soon."

Remus nodded in response then glanced at the oversized clock on the wall. "Shit, I'm going to be late, I've got to go," he stood up quickly, grabbing his bag as he did so. He leant to kiss each of his friends on their cheeks, saying a quick goodbye then running out the door with the bell chiming yet again.

"So, do we know him?" Marlene asked Lily.

Lily nodded in response and took another sip of her coffee indicating that she was not going to say another word on the matter.


	19. Chapter 19

The bell twinkled overhead as Remus pushed open the door to the bookshop café, the sight, smell and sound of the shop all familiar and comforting including the quiet sound of snoring coming from the small back room that was used for storage and as a place for the few employees to put their things.

Remus walked into the store towards the door to the backroom, passing the counter on the way he noticed a small pile of coins and notes piled there. That was another reason why he loved this place. All the people who came here knew that old Mrs. Figg was prone to taking naps in the back room in the middle of the day so they often helped themselves and left the money on the counter with a note. A year ago, Remus had even pulled one of the old chairs into the backroom so that she would have somewhere comfortable to nap.

When Remus reached the backroom, Mrs. Figg was in the exact position he suspected she's be in. Sitting upright in the old chair with her head tiled back and feet up on one of the boxes.

The first time Remus found Mrs. Figg in this position he thought she was dead and freaked out knocking a number of boxes off the shelves in the back room causing an almighty mess and nearly giving Mrs. Figg a heart attack.

"Mrs Figg" he said quietly as he gently shook the old lady's shoulder, trying to wake her. His only response was a snort and some louder snoring so Remus decided to leave her be and go put the money in the till.

Remus had moved onto cleaning the coffee machine and the fridge, it had been almost an hour since he'd arrived and was already running out of productive things to do and not one customer had come into the store in that time. He heard a shuffling behind him and realised that the snoring had stopped.

"Remus dear, when did you get here?" said Mrs. Figg sleepily.

"About an hour ago," Remus answered as he stood up.

"You should have woken me." Mrs. Figg scratched her head somehow resulting in a messier head of hair than what it was before. Her bright yellow cardigan was buttoned incorrectly over top of her floral dress.

Remus smiled at her. "Many people in today?" he asked her

"Just some of the usuals, but pretty quiet" she replied as she continued to shuffle out from behind the corner "I'm going to head home dear, Don't work too hard."

"Okay, have a good night, Mrs. Figg"

Just before she reached the door, Mrs. Figg turned to look at Remus again. "You seem happier, dear. Whatever your doing, keep doing it."

Remus blushed, "You're the second person to tell me that today, Mrs. Figg."

She smiled back at him and then turned to walk out the door.

Remus was bored.

He'd finished everything that needed to be done, restocking books, restocking café supplies, cleaning etc. half an hour ago and now he was bored. He had contemplated calling Lily to attempt to alleviate the boredom but somehow he didn't think that would help right now, besides she was probably on the phone to James. He had also contemplated calling Sirius but decided against it as he didn't want to come across as clingy this early in the relationship, not that it was official. _Yet…_ Remus hoped.

Remus was seriously thinking about taking a nap in Mrs. Figg's chair when his phone buzzed next to him on the counter that he was currently slouched over.

Sirius: **I am very glad that you kissed me x**

Remus: I am glad that you kissed back x

Sirius: **Best kiss ever**

Remus: Best kiss ever so far?

Sirius: **Definitely**

Remus:Do you think that your kisses might have anti-boredom powers?

Sirius: **Why remus, are you bored?**

Remus: Soooooooo, so, so bored

Sirius: **Where are you, Moonpie?**

Remus **:** I am not answering that unless you promise to never call me that again

Sirius: **Okay Moonshine, I promise**

Remus:. …

Sirius: **Moony**

Remus: Okay I'll accept that one, I'm at work

Sirius: **and where is this illusive workplace located?**

Remus: not telling

Sirius: **awwwwww cmon Moony!**

Remus: I'll give you a clue…

Sirius: **OOO! A mystery! I love me a mystery!**

Remus: the shop is located where you really wouldn't expect a shop like this to be.

Sirius: **hmmmm, let me think…**

Remus left him to it and went to sit on the couch. It would keep Sirius occupied for a while, anyway.

Remus fell asleep on the couch half leaning against the arm and with his legs up. Sirius hadn't replied for nearly half an hour. The sound of the bell on the door tinkling woke Remus out of his short nap. Remus lifted his head to see who had just come in through the door.

Fucking Sirius.

"Nice place you've got here, very you." Sirius said indicating to the shelves of books and couches around the space.

"You texted Lily, didn't you, you smug bastard."

"Yep" Sirius answered confidently with a smile as he strutted over to the couch Remus was on and sat down next to Remus's legs. Sirius leaned in and placed his hand on Remus's jaw running his thumb over Remus's lower lip as if asking permission.

Remus nodded slightly and Sirius pressed his lips chastely to Remus's.

When they broke apart Remus whispered to Sirius, "You don't have to ask permission to kiss me anymore."

"Nor you me," Sirius whispered back after a second. "How long do you have left til close?"

"About an hour."

Sirius twisted himself around, putting his legs up on the couch alongside Remus's, curling himself into Remus and resting his head and arm on Remus's chest.

"I think this may be a good way to spend the next hour," Sirius said.

"I think so too," Remus answered as he wrapped his arms around Sirius and nodded off to sleep again.


	20. Chapter 20

Remus woke to the sound of loud rattling and banging coming from the front of the store and a warm heavy weight on his chest. Still groggy and blurry eyed for the slumber he had just woken from, Remus's mind only just registered the sound of yelling that was coming from the shop entrance, he looked over and noticed three people out the front of the shop. It was now dark outside so Remus wasn't able to see very clearly in the weak lighting coming from the streetlight on the corner.

From what Remus could tell, one of the three men was tall with a slim build and had long white blonde hair, another was of a medium build and around the same height of the other and dark hair short hair. The third was the one that frightened Remus the most. He was slightly shorter than the other two but had a build nearly twice the size of the others. The light caught his features for a split second; Remus noticed the sinister grin on the man's face, if he could even be called a man. His teeth were filed into points and had scars that looked like claw marks that went from just above his jaw on the right side of his face that went down his neck and disappeared into the collar of his shirt.

"Come and face us like men you poofs" Remus heard one of them yelled while still shaking the old shop door.

"They're not men, Rodolphus" the vile one said, then spat on the door and proceeded to bang on the glass window.

 _Shit!_ Was all Remus could think.

Remus looked down at Sirius who was still lying half on top of him, only to see a pair familiar grey eyes staring back at him. There was something different, wrong. Remus noticed the small lines in the corners of his eyes, caused but the almost constant smile on Sirius's face were not there, instead his eyes were wide with panic. But the thing that really alerted Remus was that the sparkle had gone from his eyes.

"Don't move," Sirius whispered. "Don't let them know that we're awake. Is there a back door out of this place?"

"No," Remus answered after a moment and frowned, continuing to think of an escape route.

"We need t get out of here before they figure out a way of getting in" Sirius said clutching Remus tightly.

An Idea sprung into Remus's head, he began slowly untangling his legs from Sirius's. "Run to the back room," Remus whispered, "Three… Two… One…"

The Pair jumped up from their position on the couch and bolted towards the backroom. Sirius leapt over the couch that was opposite to the one they were laying on, pushing another chair out of Remus's way when he landed. The pair heard the yelling and banging increase the moment they moved from the couch.

"Move the shelf in front of the door," Remus told Sirius as they skidded into the back room. "There's a door that goes through into the stairwell for the flats upstairs, it's been barded up though."

Sirius grabbed boxes of books off the shelf and threw out of the way then moved to one end of the shelf to move the shelf. With Remus at the other end they lifted the shelf and placed it in front of the open doorway to the backroom.

Remus launched himself at the boards covering the door. Remus noticed Sirius crouched on the floor beside the shelf, his breathing heavy and laboured. Remus, recognising the symptoms from his own experiences, left the boards and moved straight over to Sirius, crouching beside him, not touching him.

"Breathe Sirius, Breathe," Remus Urged him. "In through your nose and out through your mouth, in, out, in, out."

After a few minutes of breathing together, Sirius's breathing had calmed. Remus felt a slightly shaky hand take hold of his wrist

"Thank you" Sirius whispered to Remus before standing and pulling him with him over to the door. The pair worked together and were able pull the boards off rather quickly, thankfully the boards covering the door weren't nailed in too tightly.

As Remus and Sirius pulled the last board off the door, they heard an almighty smash. Remus peaked through the shelf blocking the door to the backroom. The three who were outside were now climbing their way into the shop through after throwing a chair through the window.

"Time to go," Remus said as he grabbed Sirius and yanked the door open. The pair ran through the short hall on the other side of the door and out onto the street outside.

"Oi, their out here!" Remus heard yelled out behind them accompanied by footsteps chasing them as they ran.

As they reached the corner, Remus felt his feet loose their grip on some gravel, slipping out from under him. Before he knew he was falling, his head hitting the pavement as he landed.

Remus heard a strangled cry just ahead of him, but was unable to process what exactly was said because his head was swimming around him. Remus felt a pair of hands grasp around his leg and started to pull back towards the shop.

The hands suddenly leg go of him, Remus heard a scuffle and what sounded like fists and boots hitting flesh and then it was over. There were arms trying to lift him up and a soothing voice slowly coming back into focus.

"Remus, c'mon," Sirius pleaded. "Remus, love, we need to go"

Remus started pushing himself up off the ground, still dizzy from hitting his head.

"I'll guide you" Sirius said to him, hooking an arm around Remus's middle to support him, noticing how off balance Remus was. "I know you shouldn't when you have a concussion but we need to run, we're going to your place."

"Yours is closer" Remus blurred out as they started to run

"But they know where I live," Sirius replied.

"James" Remus gasped out, puffing from running.

"Safe, at his parents."

They ran the rest of the way without speaking, by the time they reached the entrance to Remus's building, Remus's dizziness had settled down substantially. They climbed the stairs slowly allowing them to catch their breaths.

"LILY!" Sirius yelled as he urgently pushed open the door to Remus and Lily's flat.

Lily walked out from the direction of the kitchen.

"Where the fuck have you be…" Lily demanded before noticing the state that the pair were in. "Remus! oh god! What happened?"

Sirius dropped both of them into the couch, immediately reaching for Remus's face, pulling it around to face him. Sirius's hands roamed all over Remus's face checking every scratch and bump while whispering "your okay, your okay" over and over again disbelievingly with tears in his eyes.

"Ice, we need ice." Lily said speeding back in the direction of the kitchen, returning moments later with two bundles wrapped in tea towels and a first aid kit.

Lily handed one of the bundles to Remus, "hold it to your head" she directed before opening the first aid kit and rummaging through for what she was looking for.

Sirius took the other bundle and began to lift it to Remus's head.

"No, that's for your hand Sirius" Lily scalded "no buts, do it."

Sirius grumbled and did as he was told.

"Pants off Remus" Lily demanded and Remus blushed in response. "Off, there's blood seeping through at your knee."

Remus Grumbled but still didn't move.

"Okay, I'll give you a min, I'm going to call James

"Lily, please don—" Sirius began to plead before he was cut off.

"No, Sirius, I'm calling him, He's already tried calling you a number of times and is worried out of his mind. He's called me twice wondering if you're here," Lily snapped. "And you" she continued, now pointing at Remus "I've called you about seven times, worried sick"

"Our phones are at the store, Lil's we couldn't call" Remus said, suddenly feeling quite sleepy.

"No, Remus don't sleep, you're concussed, you need to stay awake, usually you would go to the hospital but I'll keep an eye on you," Lily directed. "Sirius, don't let him sleep, I'll be back."

"Explain" Remus demanded, looking at directly at Sirius. Sirius started to speak but was cut off. "You can't brush it off again this time."

Sirius huffed in resignation, "okay, but not right now." Sirius snaked a hand around Remus's middle and put his chin on Remus's shoulder, "I'm just relieved your okay, when you fell I just…" choked Sirius. Remus lifted his left hand and placed it on Sirius's jaw, stroking his thumb back and forth. "It's okay," Remus reassured him.

"How was the door locked?" Remus asked

"I woke up just after closing time, I closed up for you, then climbed back on the couch with you." Sirius explained, "You were out to it, so peaceful."

"Thank you," Remus hummed in response and started to unbutton his pants. "Help me get my pants off would you."

"Not the circumstances that I imagined you saying that to me, but okay." Sirius replied as he stood up and started to help Remus. Sirius noticed Remus's blush and leaned in to kiss Remus chastely the sat back down and curled into Remus again.

After a few moments Lily walked back in carrying a plate of toasted sandwiches and glasses of chocolate milk. "I called James, I told him your okay and not to come, I know it's his weekend with his parents, but he was stressing out pretty badly so I wouldn't be surprised if he was here in half an hour, so this is just a warning."

"Thanks, Lily." Both Remus and Sirius responded.

Sirius didn't want to, but he separated himself from Remus and stood up. "I'm going to clean myself up a bit."

"Take these," Lily said as she passed Sirius some disinfectant and bandages. "For your hand, let me know if you need help."

"Thanks" Sirius responded with a meek smile as he walked off towards the bathroom.

Lily waited until she heard the bathroom door click. "What the hell happened Remus?"

Remus groaned at having to explain but knew he had to. Lily started working on Remus's knee He knew Lily wouldn't let up until she knew what happened. Remus explained quickly in hushed tones ignoring the gasps that Lily let escape every now and then. Remus finished explaining and could tell that Lily was about to burst out with questions.

"Lil's, please, no why's, I don't even know the answers to those questions yet."

"Okay, but if you don't tell me when you know, you know I'll get the answers from James. Don't go to sleep, I'll be back."

"Yes Lils" Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed a glass of milk and half a cheese toastie and started to eat. Sirius walked back in the room a few minutes later with his hand now bandaged, flopping on the couch beside Remus, sneaking a bit from his toastie in the process.

"So what shall we do for the next 24 hours seeing as we can't sleep"

"What are you talking about we, you can go to sleep whenever you want to."

"I'm not going to sleep if you can't." Sirius said with authority. "I've got some ideas," he added waggling his eyes.

"No strenuous physical activity either," Lily yelled from the Kitchen.

Sirius pouted and Remus kissed him in sympathy.

James burst through the door at that moment and walked angrily over to Sirius.

"Explain what the fuck happened Sirius," James demanded, then turned to Remus without taking a breath, "are you okay Remus?" he asked Remus, concerned. Lily came out from the kitchen having heard that James had arrived. James turned to Sirius again and just gave him a look. Remus felt Sirius shrink beside him.

Lily grabbed James's arm, "I'll deal with this," she said as she dragged James off to the bedroom.

"I really hope your okay, both of you." James said to Remus and Sirius as he was dragged off.

Remus and Sirius finished off their meals in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

James and Lily came back into the room after about 20 minutes, Lily sat down on the couch next to Sirius, James taking a place on the floor in front of her.

"So…" James said,

"I called Mrs Figg to let her know what happened, she said not to worry, the shop's insured." Lily told Remus, who let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"And we decided we're gonna do a movie marathon to help keep Remus awake, it goes for 18 or so hours and it's about this kid who goes to this amazing magic school and is hunted down by this nose less evil dude."

"Interesting," Sirius commented.

"But first," James continued, "Sirius, you need to explain to Remus and Lily, all of it, they deserve to know and it's not my story to tell."

"Okay, then," Sirius replied.


	21. Chapter 21

"Ummm… Where to start…" Sirius pondered.

"Take your time," Remus said quietly.

"What about you start with Grimmauld," James suggested and Lily gave him a questioning look. "I know the details, I'm just trying to make it a bit easier on him," James whispered into Lily's ear in reply. Lily nodded her understanding.

"My parents, if you could even call them that, used to treat me like shit," Sirius started. "I was the perfect child, the favourite child, I had to be with them."

Remus felt that there was something that Sirius left unspoken but he wasn't going to interrupt, now that Sirius had stared talking. Remus knew this would be hard for Sirius, if the amount of times Sirius had brushed it off was anything to go by. Remus reached his hand out to grasp Sirius' hand, sliding their fingers together in moral support.

Sirius lifted his head from where it was looking down into his own lap to face Remus and give him a slightly pained smile. He took a deep breath and continued.

"That was until I started boarding school. When you start at Hogwarts-"

Lily snorted loudly at the name and Remus grinned, hiding his laughter.

"Yes, I know, it's a funny name, when you start at Hogwarts, you attend an interview with the headmaster, who asks you a whole range of questions, some are just ridiculous, to determine what house you should be placed in for you years at the school."

"One of the questions I was asked was 'what position do you sleep in?' James provided.

"I got 'do you prefer liquorice of sherbet?' but anyway… I was sorted into Gryffindor, the house that was known for courage, chivalry and determination." Sirius finished, sounding like he was reading out of a book. "I became a disgrace to my family that very day."

"By being sorted into Gryffindor?" Remus asked.

"Yep, my whole family had been sorted into Slytherin for generations," Sirius answered.

"What is Slytherin house known for?" Lily asked.

"Being slimy gits," James growled.

"But officially they are known for being cunning, resourceful and ambitious," Sirius stated.

"But that's a crock of shit if you ask me." James

"But nobody did," Lily said to James with a neutral tone as she slid her fingers into his hair. James rested his head against the arm of the couch and closed his eyes. Next to where Lily's arm was resting, allowing her to keep running her fingers through his black mess.

"Anyway," Sirius continued, "I was sorted into Gryffindor, I didn't know anyone, I had gone to school expecting to be sorted into Slytherin, all the other kids at my age that my parents allowed –no, not allowed, forced- me to socialise with, were sorted into slytherin. James was the first person I met who was in the same house as me and we were also in the same dorm. We didn't get along to start with."

"You were such a snob," James commented. "Why aren't these bed sheets silk? Where is the private bathroom? Where is the dumbwaiter so I can have food sent up here." James continued attempting to mimic Sirius' slightly posh accent.

"Ha, yes, I so was. But you soon changed that," Sirius added.

"Damn right I did, good thing I did, too. You'd pissed off some of the seventh years because you kept going on about how it must have been a mistake with the interview results," James advised. "They were quite offended, as you had decided that insulting the traits of Gryffindor's would help you get into the house you thought you should have been sorted into. You even went to Dumbles to have him re-interview you."

"Oh yeah, I did to. I'd forgotten about that," Sirius pondered "I think that was the last straw for you, You were trying really hard to help me fit into the house because you knew that what my family was being from a prestigious family of Hogwarts yourself. We both angrily yelled a lot of things at each other that day, the others who were staying in the same dorm as us left. I don't remember what was said exactly but it did result in the both of us rolling around on the floor laughing. I think you said something like 'why don't you fuck off to Pigfarts!'"

James burst into laughter and fell from his position, resting against the arm of the couch to lying on the floor, holding his sides. "I did!, I can't believe I said that!"

"Pigfarts?" Lily queried.

"Neighbouring school, bit of a joke really, their uniforms look like a space suit." James answered while trying to steady his breathing.

"So, fast forward twelve months," Sirius continued, "James and I were best friends now and were inseparable as we still are today. That year was tough though, my parents used to send me angry and insulting letters and emails all the time. Children of my parents' so called friends used to spit on me as they walked by, I was beat up a few times too. But somewhere in there, my perspective changed, of Gryffindor of Slytherin and of how I should treat others, though I do admit I continued to be a bit of a snob for a while."

"I dreaded going home over the summer," Sirius reflected. "My parents treated me like shit. They didn't allow me any outside contact, especially not Reg, in case I tainted him or something."

Sirius stopped talking then, taking deep breaths, trying to prepare himself for what was coming. Remus gripped Sirius' hand tighter.

"My brother, Regulus was starting school. We were beginning third year, he was sorted into Slytherin, just as expected. He had gotten along with some of the kids that our parents allowed us to socialise with and had already started to form a group. They were all shady."

James solemnly nodded his agreement at Sirius' last statement.

"The day after the welcoming feast and the sorting, I made the mistake of going up to Reg, just to say hello. We'd always gotten along at home before I started school and our parents started to restrict our contact with each other. I thought it was harmless, just saying hello but that was my mistake. His friends were with him, they ganged up on me and beat me." Sirius paused. Remus looked at his face, there were tears in his eyes. Remus curled himself into Sirius and rested hi head on Sirius' shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. The position he was in was slightly awkward as he had his injured leg stretched out, resting on the coffee table.

"Reg just stood by and watched." Sirius finished.

"When Sirius finally told me all that was happening, I begged my parents to contact Sirius' parents to allow him to stay with us for any holidays" James continued in Sirius' place, giving him time to compose himself. "The first few times they contacted the Blacks the answer was an outright no or no answer at all. I didn't tell my parents anything that was going on but I think they sensed there was something wrong, which is why they put in so much effort. I still can't believe they did it, they dressed up, in super snobbish clothing and went over to Grimmauld Place and somehow convinced them to allow Sirius to visit over the summer."

"It's what kept me sane when I had to go home, just the knowledge that I was going to the Potter's soon." Sirius said, showing that he was ready to speak again. "Also by that stage I had started rebelling against my parents, I wallpaper glued posters of bikini-clad girls on motorbikes to my bedroom walls, decorated my room with everything red and refused to cut my hair. My room was atrocious but I needed to do it, to show them I wasn't a pawn for them to manipulate."

"In fourth year I figured out that those bikini clad girls did nothing for me, I told James towards the end of that year. All he said was, 'mate, I know, you check out the other guys on the soccer team in the changing rooms, don't worry, I'm the only one who noticed.'"

"Ha yeah, I think you thought you were being subtle about it, but you were not."

Sirius hummed in agreement. At that point the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Lily offered as she stood up, "I ordered food while we were in the kitchen, hope you like Indian."

"Yessss," James hissed, rubbing his hands together.

"I'll put it in the kitchen, it'll stay warm til we're ready." Lily said as she walked past. James stood up and took Lily's spot seat on the couch.

"In the summer of fifth year," Sirius continued, knowing that Lily could still hear from the kitchen. He was on a roll at the moment and didn't want to loose momentum.

"I had the house to myself one weekend. My parents were out of the country and Reg was staying at his friend's place. I thought it would be safe to bring someone back. I'd been seeing Gideon for a couple of weeks at the end of the school year and it happened that his family were staying in town that week. I'd been able to sneak in and out of the house thanks to the amazing pranking skills I had learnt at school."

Lily walked back into the room. She noticed that James had taken her spot on the couch and decided to just wriggle herself a spot between James and Sirius on the now over crowded couch. Remus rolled his eyes at her then turned his attention back to Sirius.

"The door flew open and Reg's friends had seen me with Gideon's cock in my mouth and that was it. They were into us. Luckily we managed to escape, Gideon ran back to his family, saying that he couldn't do this anymore." Sirius paused and took a laboured breath. "I was on the street for a couple of days before I plucked up the courage to go to the Potters."

"He was a mess when he got there," James took over, "his face was so bruised he was nearly unrecognisable. We took him to get medical care and then he stayed with us. Sirius' parents had sent a letter to the school with an official notice of disownment while he was missing for those couple of days. The school contacted my parents' as they knew that we were friends and that my place was the place that Sirius was most likely to go to."

"I didn't find out until later when the Potter's told me that they wanted to adopt me, make me truly part of the family, even though they made me feel like I already was from the moment I met them," Sirius added. "Those people at the shop today were three of my brothers' so called friends. Malfoy, Lestrange and Greyback,. They were the three that were at my house that day, along with my brother who strangely wasn't with them today."

"Now every time they see me, they try to get to me and I'm really sorry that you have been caught up in this mess. I get them back when I can, in creative ways that they can't trache back to me. Potato in their car's exhaust, covering their car in sticky notes, cling wrap, shaving foam, dog shit etcetera, etcetera."

"Fuck this shit!" James shouted angrily as he stood up from the couch.

"James," Sirius warned.

"I'm not angry at you Sirius, I'm angry at them and scared fucking shitless half the time because of what could happen to you and now Remus too."

"I think it's time to get dinner and put the movie on." Lily said, pulling James from the room with her, leaving Sirius and Remus alone. The two stayed silent, Remus still curled into Sirius' side.

James looked noticeable calmer when he and Lily walked back into the room, James carrying the food and Lily the Dvd.

While the others were cleaning up the mess from dinner after watching the movie. Remus stole away to his bedroom, he needed a moment to think about everything that was discussed. His room was his sacred place, somewhere he could escape to, which was what he needed at this moment. He needed to think. How could someone go through all of that and still be sane let alone caring and loving as Sirius was. Remus lifted his hand to his cheek. His hand had come away wet from the tears that were running silently down his face.

"I'll leave" came a voice from the open doorway to Remus' bedroom. Remus turned his head to see who it was even though he already knew.

"I understand that you don't want to be with me now that you know what you were getting yourself into," Sirius said to him. Remus opened his mouth to say something but found that nothing came out as he was stunned at what was happening.

"Goodbye, Remus" Sirius said as he turned and walked out of the bedroom then out of the flat, leaving Remus sitting on the edge of the bed with tears streaming down his face.


	22. Chapter 22

Remus was still frozen in disbelief. A voice in the back of his head was urging him to move, _get up! you need to go!_ It was saying. He shook his head in an attempt to wake himself from the fuzziness he felt was surrounding his head and took big gasping breaths, finally realising that he had been holding it. _What just happened?_ Remus asked himself.

"What on earth was that?" Remus heard James say from the direction of the kitchen, "Who slammed the front door?"

Remus spotted Lily as she burst out of the kitchen looking worried. She looked around the sitting area, noticing that it was empty, then turned her gaze towards the open door of Remus's room. Remus stood up suddenly, his feet stepping one in front of the other, like they had a mind of their own, walking out of the room.

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed as he walked out of the room and stopped in front of her.

"Where's Sirius?" James asked and he came out of the kitchen to stand next to Lily.

Remus's mind was finally starting to come back to itself, _I need to go, I need to find him_ he thought, _it's not safe_. He shook his head at James and took off. Remus swung the door open so forcefully that it swung into the adjoining wall, causing the nearby walls to shake. He ran down the stairs taking two at a time. Lily and James had taken off after him but were struggling to keep up.

"Shit" Remus heard James exclaim from behind as he crashed into the wall at the sharp corner where the stairs went down another flight.

Remus ran down the steps and out onto the pavement outside of the building. He looked in both directions before taking off running again. He ran to the corner and looked around. _Shit, what if he went the other way_ he thought and took off back in the other direction, passing a befuddled Lily on his way.

Remus stretched his arms up so that his hands were resting on the back of his head, his breathing slightly laboured due to a combination of emotional stress and lack of exersize.

"He's gone," Remus realised aloud just as Lily reached him putting her arms around his shoulders. Remus felt his knees go weak just before they collapsed beneath him sending both of them to the ground with Lily's arms still grasped firmly around his shoulders. She was holding on tightly as if she was trying to hold all the pieces of Remus together as he shattered.

"James!" Lily yelled, getting the man's attention from were he was pacing and desperately dialling numbers into his phone.

James ran over to the pair and helped them move to one side of the footpath, under the streetlight, out of the way of the people who were walking past and giving the trio odd looks.

Remus remembered what had happened earlier that evening, the reason why they were in this situation.

"It's not safe, I need him safe, he needs to be safe." Remus babbled to James and Lily as a sense of dread fell upon him.

"Mate, I'll find him, don't worry." James said to Remus in an attempt to calm him but only just hiding the shakiness of his own voice from the worry he feeling. "I've called Sirius's mobile a few times but it's going straight to voicemail and I've tried the landline at the flat to but no answer either. I'm going to go and call a few more people," he finished as he stood back up to make his calls.

"C'mon Remus we need to go back inside. You'll catch a chill staying out in this." Lily said to Remus as she noticed the cool change setting in that the reporters on television said would hang around for another week or so.

"No, I need to stay here," Remus answered.

"Fine, suit yourself" Lily said to him then held out a hand to Remus, "but at least move back towards the doors to the building"

Remus nodded begrudgingly in agreement before taking the offered hand to stand up. Lily turned around and walked off, up the steps to the doors of the building.

"Where are you going?" Remus called out to her, receiving only a wave of dismissal in return. _Fine_ he thought and walked over to the wall, towards where James was pacing again and talking in what seemed to be a rather tense conversation. Remus chose a spot that was as close to the door as he could get without sitting on the steps and sat back down, this time with his back against the cold stone exterior wall of the building. The soft light from the open doors of the building, just enough to see six feet in front of him.

As Remus sat, he started thinking about all that happened and how he had acted, realising that he had been a bit of jerk, not think about James in all of this. Sirius was James' best friend and vice versa and obviously cares about him to but James was somehow holding himself together.

The light from the open doors dampened suddenly as if something large was blocking it. Lily came through the doors carrying all number of things.

"What are you doing, Lily? Remus asked.

"What?" Lily replied, "You didn't think I was going to leave you to sit out here on your own all night?"

Remus didn't deny that the thought ha crossed his mind. He noticed blankets, winter coats, a stuffed looking satchel "Are those the seat cushions from the couch?" Remus asked sightly befuddled.

"Yes, and they're bloody awkward to carry so come and grab them" came the blanket muffled answer.

Remus jumped up from his position to help her bring the tings down to the ground to set up for what would probably be an all nighter.

At that moment, James re-joined the two of them and sat down in front of them with his legs crossed.

"Frank and Alice are going to drive around and look for him, Pete is at his Mums so can't help by searching but he is going to keep calling Sirius while I go home and search the place." James explained.

"Thank you James for what your doing. I'm sorry for making this about me, I know he's your best friend."

"It's ok, we all react differently in different situations. You didn't make it about you, not really," James answered. "And anyway," James continued, glancing at Lily who was busy sorting out the blankets and cushions around them, "I understand why."

Remus blushed, realising just what James was implying.

"Keep us updated" Lily said to James before grabbing him by the collar pulling him forwards and giving him a peck on the lips.

"Of course," he nodded in reply as he stood up, before turning and running off in the direction of his and Sirius' flat.

Remus sighed, _it's going to be a long night_ he thought.

"Blankets and cushion aren't the only things I bought with me," Lily said as she started rustling through the satchel she had bought with her. After pulling out numerous things that would probably come in handy later like portable phone chargers, Lily pulled out a large thermos.

"Is that what I think it is?" Remus asked when he saw it.

"You bet your ass it is," Lily answered crudly while laughing, "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't bring Hot chocolate with me at a time like this."

"I love you, Lily" Remus exclaimed.

"Love you to, idiot."


	23. Chapter 23

James entered his and Sirius' flat in a flurry of nervous anticipation. James called out as he ran around the flat, from room to room, opening and closing every door in the house searching for his best friend hoping, wishing that he was here.

"Shit" James exclaimed when he discovered that Sirius had not come back to the flat. Pacing back and forth, he thought about what he should do next, leave and search the streets for Sirius or stay and wait for his friend to come home.

James decided to stay, there needed to be someone ready to pick up the pieces when Sirius returned, besides, Frank and Alice were out looking out for him at the moment. James, despite his attempts at staying strong for the others and appearing like he wasn't fazed by the days events, was starting to crack.

James started cleaning. It was the only thing he felt he could do that was constructive at this point in time. A 'closet mother hen', Peter had called him after he saw how much James was stressing and cleaning the first time Sirius was caught out at school by his brother's so called friends. Their dorm was spotless that week waiting for Sirius to be let out of the infirmary.

James cleared off the coffee table and under the couch where he found 4 dollars, two half eaten biscuits that were well on their way to going mouldy, a lot of dust and a tube of bright red lipstick. _Sirius has been playing again_ James thought. After one hour the living room was spotless, right down to the windows being washed and the lights being dusted. James set out to work on the kitchen.

"Remus, are you ok?" Lily asked Remus and took his hand in her own. The pair were camped outside of their building waiting for news or a sign of Sirius's whereabouts. The blankets that Lily had brought outside to keep them warm were wrapped tightly around the two. It was cold outside, every breath that they took was released in a visible cloud of steam that disappeared into the air around them.

"I don't know," Remus answered quietly and placed the now long finished mug of hot chocolate on the ground beside him.

"He'll be ok," Lily said as she squeezed his hand to re-assure him.

"mmm," Remus replied.

"I know that you don't want to loose him but you need to see this from his side too."

Remus nodded and lowered his gaze to his lap, thinking.

"James warned me that something like this might happen."

Remus looked back up in curiosity at Lily's statement.

"He said that Sirius tries to push away people he cares about, people who care about him, he doesn't want them to get hurt. James said that Sirius tried to push him away to not long after he was discovered by Regulus' so called friends, James wouldn't stand for it though, told Sirius to stop pushing him away because he's not going anywhere. I think that might be what he is trying to do to you too."

"I'm not going anywhere either." Remus said solemnly.

The pair sat in silence for a few moments.

"Your gone for him aren't you?" Lily asked.

Remus sighed and Lily took that as an affirmation.

It was now three in the morning. Frank and Alice had called twenty minutes ago to let him know that thy were calling it a night and will be up first thing in the morning to keep looking if James hadn't heard anything by then. Every room in the flat was now impeccably clean except for Sirius's bedroom, which James wasn't going to touch.

James was sitting at the dining table, hands clasped in front of him on the table and right knee moving up and down in a repetitive nervous twitch. James couldn't help but think, what if Lucius and Fenrir had gotten to him? Would Sirius now be lying in a ditch somewhere, beaten and unable to move. James didn't even want to think of the other possibilities.

James was brought back to his senses a loud thud at the door. He twisted his body around to face the commotion.

The door banged again, James stood up from the table and walked over to the entry way, he was unsure of whether to open the door because whoever was there clearly wasn't knocking.

"Door! Why do you not open at my command?" James heard a voice that was unmistakably Sirius' say from beyond the closed door and sighed in relief.

"Fine! Don't answer my question then, you inanimate object," Sirius continued after waiting a moment, "I'll just have to barge you open then."

James chose to open the door at that moment. Sirius had backed up in the hallway and was now charging at full speed towards James. Sirius crashed into James at full speed, realising too late that the door was now open, sending both of them to the floor in a tangled mess.

"James m' boy!" When he realised that it was James that he was lying on top of.

"You're supposed to turn the handle you idiot!" James wrapped his arms around Sirius in a hug and laughed in relief at having his friend home, safe.

Sirius started to wriggle in his friends' arms, like a dog that was being held back from running as fast as they could.

"Where the fuck were you?" James asked as he let a wriggling Sirius go who then flopped onto the floor beside James.

"Young man," Sirius started in an aristocratic accent that James knew from many experiences was a normal occurrence when Sirius had been drinking, "when I was your age, I—"

"We're the same age, you pillock," James laughed

"—went to a pub to drown my sorrows, turns out I still do that now" Sirius continued.

"C'mon" James said, "get up, kitchen now, coffee."

"Can't, need help," Sirius replied and pouted at James who just sighed and moved to helped the very wobbly man up from the floor and over to the dining table.

James put the kettle on and sent off a text to Lily and Frank while Sirius sat at the dining table, if you could call it that considering that nearly his whole upper body was sprawled on the table.

 **James:** He's home, safe, sloshed but safe.

 **Lily:** Thank fuck he's ok.

 **James:** you can go inside out of the cold now.

 **Lily:** Easier said than done, Remus fell asleep.

 **James:** Ha! Of course he did, exhausted from the stress.

James poured the boiling water into two mugs of coffee, stirring both with a spoon after adding milk. He took one of the mugs over to Sirius along with a large glass of cold water before taking apposition at the table opposite Sirius.

 **Lily:** I woke Remus up at let him know, we're on our way over, He wouldn't take no for an answer.

 **James:** ok, working on sobering Sirius up a bit, no promises though.

"Mate, what are you doing?" James asked Sirius after a moments silence.

"I honestly have no Idea" Sirius replied in a whisper, sounding like he was about to cry.

"He's one of the best things that has happened to you"

"I know" Sirius continued to whisper, "so are you."

"Of course, I did say one of the best didn't I?"

"So modest," Sirius attempted to roll his eyes but his head followed too.

"But mate seriously…" James continued

Sirius raised his eyes from where they were staring intently into his coffee mug.

"Why are you letting him go?" James asked

"I can't bring him into this, James"

"Don't you think that is a choice that you need to make together? Or at least let him have a say in?"

Sirius stood up from his seat, still slightly wobbly and began to pace, James could see that he was working himself up into a rage. Sirius was clenching his fists, open, close, open, close.

"Mate calm down, We don't want to have to patch another hole in the wall, it really didn't go well last time," James pleaded to Sirius while looking over at the wall adjacent to the hallway where the wall was warped from their miserable attempt at patching the hole.

"Why can't they just piss off and leave me to live my life?" Sirius yelled.

"Mate they're jealous, they can see that your happy and they want to take that away from you."

"I know, but that's why I don't want to bring Remus into this, I don't know how far they will go to get to me and I don't know what I'll do if something happ—" Sirius broke off, unable to continue.

The pair stood in silence for a few moments.

"Your gone for him aren't you?"

Sirius sighed and James took that as an affirmation.

"Where is he?" Remus asked breathlessly as he entered the flat.

"Bed, second room down the hall, took a bit but he's sobered up a little and I convinced him to take a shower, stunk like booze."

Remus nodded his thanks and walked off to find Sirius.

"I convinced him to pack some things before we left," Lily informed James as she wrapped her arms around his middle, "bought you some time."

"Thanks," James said and pressed a kiss to her temple and wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. "You look tired," he commented.

"So do you," Lily replied as she relaxed further into James' arms, "you've been cleaning?" she asked when she noticed how unusually tidy the room around her was.

"Yeah," James answered bashfully, "nervous habit."

"Good habit to have," Lily commented, "Do you think they'll be ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, they will be," James answered with a slight smile, "let's go to bed."

Remus expected Sirius' room to be smaller than it was, it made him realise that this flat was much bigger than it looked. The wall opposite him, the exterior wall, had two large windows that were open slightly with white wooden frames and sheer white curtains that floated softly when a breeze came through. Parts of the plasterboard had been ripped off the exterior wall exposing the red brickwork underneath.

A cream coloured tri-lamp stood in the corner of the room next to the window, lighting the room softly. Clothes were strewn all over the floor of the room as well as a wet looking towel, the draws of the dresser that stood next to the lamp were wide open with clothes hanging out. _What a mess_ Remus thought.

Sirius' bed was positioned against the exterior wall in between the two windows. A bedside table stood on either side of the bed, each with it's own copper lamp. The bed was a modern four poster bed made from matt black metal with a wooden headboard Remus thought it looked almost like the frame of a cube. Soft sheer black curtains hung from the top bars of the four-poster down to the floor. All of the curtains were drawn closed around the bed except for the one at the end of the bed, not that it stopped anyone from seeing in anyway. _Almost fit for a prince_ Remus thought. The bed was topped with an abundance of pillows and an incredibly soft looking duvet.

Remus spotted Sirius lying in the middle of the bed

"Remus!" Sirius sobbed and turned over into the pillow. Remus placed the satchel that he'd bought with him on the floor next to the door and walked over to the side of the bed, pulled the curtain open and sat on the bed beside Sirius.

"I'm so sorry Remus!" Sirius continued to sob into the pillow. Remus reached a hand out and placed it on Sirius' head drawing him back out from the mountain of pillows.

"Sirius, I'm not going anywhere, I'm part of this now, they've seen me, I'm not going anywhere," Remus said as he proceeded to run his fingers through Sirius' hair.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Sirius whispered.

"I understand your reasons Sirius and I'll say it again, I'm not going anywhere."

Sirius sighed and sunk back into the pillows. Remus continued to run his hands for a few more minutes, he found it calming.

Sirius gasped suddenly and turned over, "don't look at me Remus! I'm only in my pants!" and moved his arms and legs to cover himself.

"You're a bit delayed there Sirius," Remus laughed "It's a miracle you managed to get your pants back on after your shower in this state.

"So tired Remus," Sirius mumbled, "come to bed, Moony."

Remus stood up from the bed, took off his jacket and placed it on the floor bedside the bed. Remus walked over to his satchel and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Bathroom?" Remus asked, A hand lifted up from the bed and pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room before flopping back down like a dead weight.

Remus entered the ensuite, switching on the light as he did then when about cleaning his teeth. Remus usually slept only in his pants but felt a bit self-conscious about stripping off almost entirely here. After a few minutes, Remus finally decided that he would take his trousers off and sleep in his shirt and pants so that he wouldn't feel too constricted during what was left of the night.

Remus switched off the ensuite light and made a dash for the bed, quickly pulling the duvet up and sliding himself under into the warmth.

"I have just discovered a problem Remus," Sirius said.

"Tell me, Sirius," Remus played along, "what problem is that?"

"I am on top of the blanket and you are underneath the blanket."

"I see, that is a problem."

Sirius reached out and grabbed the edge of the blanket that Remus had pulled up under his chin and pulled it over himself and rolled. And kept rolling.

"Shit" Sirius exclaimed as he fell off the bed.

Remus

Sirius looked triumphant when he finally managed to escape the confines of the duvet.

Sirius tried to pick up the blanket and spread it back on the bed but was failing miserably.

Remus sighed and stood up from the bed, "lie down before you hurt yourself," he said to Sirius as he grabbed the blanket from him, "I'll fix it."

Sirius bounced back onto the bed and lied down as instructed and watched Remus. Remus flung the duvet up and out onto the bed, holding onto the bottom corners so that it spread properly over the bed.

"Mmmm legs," Sirius hummed, causing Remus to blush as he fixed the corners of the duvet that had gotten caught up.

Remus slid himself back under the blanket and turned to face Sirius, who was already facing Remus.

"I'm sorry again Remus" Sirius whispered sleepily a few minutes later.

"It's okay Sirius," Remus whispered back.

"Goodnight Remus."

"Goodnight Sirius."


	24. Chapter 24

Remus woke from the feeling of being too warm, way too warm. Remus was bundled up tightly in the blankets as well as by one Sirius Black who had obviously wrapped himself around Remus during the night. _Clingy_ , Remus thought, but he really didn't mind. Sirius was half lying on top of Remus, arm strewn across his chest, legs wrapped tightly around one of Remus' and head buried in his neck.

Remus carefully stretched out his free leg in an attempt to find some relief from the warmth without waking Sirius from his slumber. Remus dozed on and off for an hour before giving in to the ever pressing need of going to the bathroom. He slipped the blankets off of himself and slowly and carefully peeled himself out of Sirius' grip.

The moment Remus had left the bed, Sirius started to stir, making a soft whining sound and reaching out in his sleep to where Remus had just left. Remus' heart fluttered and he smiled affectionately. Really not wanting Sirius to wake, Remus quickly grabbed the pillow he was using and put in the place on the bed where Sirius was reaching for. Sirius, unconsciously grabbed the pillow and pulled it towards himself and wrapped his arms and legs around it in the same position he had been in with Remus present. Sirius settled back into a peaceful slumber beginning to snore softly again.

After padding off quietly to relieve himself, Remus ventured out into the kitchen, seeking out some tea even though he thought a better choice at this point in time would have been coffee, to wake him up a bit after having only about 4 hours sleep.

James and Lily were not awake yet either, the flat being strangely quite. Remus looked at the clock on the wall near the front door to the apartment. The clock was one of those obnoxiously bright red digital things that could scroll the text and flash among other things. _Who on earth thought that was a good choice_ Remus thought. It read 7:56am. He had to be at work by 10 to open.

The kitchen was spotless as the night before James had gone on a cleaning rampage around the apartment while worrying about Sirius and his warebouts. The stainless steel appliances where gleaming and there was not a spec of dust on any of the bench tops. Remus filled the shiny kettle and placed it on the stove. Once the stove was lit, Remus set about finding some tea and a mug. He started opening cupboards

"My goodness!" Remus exclaimed, "James even cleaned the inside of the cupboards!"

"Indeed he did" came a sleepy reply from behind.

Remus turned around to see Lily leaning against the bench top, still in her pyjamas and hair mussed from recent sleep.

"Get me cup too please, while I try to wake myself up a bit more so I can at least have the chance at holding a civil conversation" Lily continued, yawning halfway through.

By the time Remus found the mugs and some tea bags, having given up hope halfway through his search of finding a teapot and some loose-leaf tea, Lily was perched up on the bench and seemed a little more awake than a few minutes earlier.

"Remus?" Lily asked quietly, "Are you ok?"

"I'm alright Lils, my knee is still a little sore but my head is ok now." Remus Responded while making their tea.

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

Remus sighed and took Lily's mug over to her before returning to the sink with his own mug and looking out the window. "I guess, I don't know, I just want him to be safe, he's been through enough and doesn't need this. I'm scared shitless that something like what happened is going to happen again and this time he wont be able to get away."

"What do you want to happen now Rem?"

"I want to lock him away where they wont be able to find him and hurt him but I realise that isn't practical or sensible. He'd probably go stir crazy within the first day anyway." Remus turned to face Lily. "I like him Lils, I really like him. I know we've only known each other for two weeks. I don't want to get in too deep too fast but don't think I can stop it."

"Do you want it to stop?" Lil asked while smiling knowingly.

Remus thought about the answer for a minute while staring into his mug.

"No."

"Look, I probably shouldn't bee telling you this, but James said that Sirius is the happiest he's seen him in a while. Maybe you could help his happiness by keeping the light on."

"Hmm…"Remus pondered what Lily had said. Was it true that Sirius is or could be happy with him? Was it possible that they could be god for each other. Remus already felt himself opening up more towards Sirius, he always found it hard to begin to trust new people. Even with James he felt that neither of them were un trustworthy or undeserving of his trust.

"Enough about me, what about you and James?" Remus asked.

Lily smiled to herself before answering, "I accidentally knocked his notebook off the bedside table last night when we were getting ready for bed, it fell open and there were love hearts scribbled on the inside with 'Mr & Mrs Potter' and 'Lily Potter'"

Remus spurted out the tea he had just sipped, "really?"

"Really."

"Wow!"

"Yep, it is sort of cute though, slightly childish but still cute."

"They really are just like a couple of kids though.' They both sighed in unison, the burst out laughing.

"What time to you work today?" Lily asked once she had settled down again.

"Open to close, I'd better start getting ready to go," Remus replied as he kissed Lily on the cheek and started to walk back towards Sirius' bedroom.

"I'll see you at home tonight, we can order in, have a quiet night for just us."

"Sounds great Lily. See you tonight."

Remus closed the doo to Sirius' room quietly behind him. Sirius was still asleep curled around the pillow tightly.

Remus noticed on the side wall a series of canvas's that he must have missed when coming in here late last night or early this morning rather. Remus was fascinated while looking at them, they were breathtaking. Remus stood there still only in his shirt and pants, holding the warm mug between both hands, as the morning light shone through the window.

Each piece had a different combination of colours that flowed abstractly over the canvas creating a depth t each piece you wouldn't have thought possible. Each piece seemed to convey a different emotion, making you feel when you looked at it.

"Beautiful." Remus heard from behind him. It seemed that Sirius had woken up finally.

"Yes, they are."

"That's not what I meant, those ones took me a while to get right."

"You painted them?," Remus asked, finally turning around to see Sirius lying on the bed with his head resting on his hand, minus the blankets. "What did you mean?"

"Yes, I painted them, never mind what I meant, come back and join me over here."

"They are amazing, Sirius!"

Sirius smiled and patted the bed next to him.

Remus padded over, placing the now finished mug of tea on the bedside table before lying back down on the bed and turning to face Sirius.

"How's your head?" Sirius asked, tracing his fingers over the now visible bruise.

"It's fine, I'm fine," Remus answered, "how's yours?"

"Been better," Sirius laughed, but that's my own fault for being an idiot and getting smashed."

The pair laid in silence for a while, Sirius playing with Remus' hair, their heads loud with their own thoughts.

"Can I kiss you?" Sirius whispered to Remus.

"You don't need to ask anymore, remember?" Remus answered.

Sirius started to lean in closer to Remus but was stopped when Remus put a finger up to Sirius' lips.

"But your breath stinks, so you need to go brush your teeth first."

Sirius bolted out of bed to the bathroom. Remus sat up in the bed crossing his legs waiting for Sirius to return. He checked the time on his phone that was sitting on the bedside table. 8:40am, _still enough time_ , Remus thought.

Sirius strutted out of the bathroom with a towel tied around his shoulders. He stopped at the foot of the bed, flashed his mischievous grin that Remus was becoming increasingly familiar with and them began to pull a series of poses, like the ones you would see the overly buff guys doing at the muscle building competitions.

"You are ridiculous!" Remus burst out laughing.

Sirius Jumped onto the bed and crawled towards Remus, amking him lean back into wall, as there was no head board on this bed. Sirius climbed onto Remus' lap, straddling him before reaching his hands up and placing them on ether side of Remus' face.

"Are you sure you brushed your teeth properly?" Remus asked meekly.

"You tell me." Sirius replied before leaning in a capturing Remus' lips with his own. They didn't surface for a while, only when they where running out of breath. Remus relaxed further into the kisses, still getting used to Sirius and how he kissed. Remus tentatively placed his hands on Sirius' hips while Sirius' hands had moved to the back of Remus' neck and in his hair. Sirius had indeed bushed his teeth properly.

Remus starting to feel a little more adventurous bit down lightly on Sirius' bottom lip, eliciting a moan from the other. Remus could feel that Sirius was hard and noticed that he himself was also hard. Remus was thankful that their kisses didn't progress further than what they were although he though there were a few moments that he felt it could have.

Remus and Sirius eventually pulled away from each other. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus' shoulders and buried his face in Remus' neck.

"You smell so good." Sirius whispered into Remus's neck as Remus wrapped his own arms around Sirius' back and buried his face in Sirius' neck.

"So do you." Remus replied.

Remus pulled back with a jolt. "Shit!' He exclaimed, "What's the time?" he asked as he jumped off the bed trying not to offend Sirius by pushing him off himself.

"Seven past nine" Sirius answered as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Shit, shit, shit. I'm gonna be late for work."

Sirius laughed softly, "potty mouth Moonykins s all flustered, shame I can't take care of that problem for you," he said as he pointed to Remus' very visible problem.

"Shit, can I use your shower?" Remus asked looking down while grabbing his overnight bag, realising just how big of a problem he had.

"Sure" Sirius replied with a wink.

"Not for that you pervert!" Remus answered as he closed the door behind himself.

Remus quickly turned on the shower stripped and jumped into the shower.

"Fuck" Remus yelped because the water was too hot. He adjusted the temperature and set about cleaning himself and trying to will away his erection.

 _Unorganised book shelves, no, not having any tea left, no_ , Remus thought, trying to come up with something that would make his problem go away. _Homophobic dirt bags what want to hurt my Sirius, yes!_

 _Hmmm…My Sirius, I like the thought of that. Remus smiled._

After getting out of the shower and dressing himself in the clean clothes Lily had made him pack before making their way over here, Remus went back out into Sirius' bedroom and saw Sirius sitting there, now with a robe on over his bare chest and looking through his phone. Remus wanted so much to craw; back into bed with Sirius and lay their together for that whole day but he knew he couldn't.

When Sirius noticed Remus had returned, he got up from the bed, picked up Remus' satchel from the floor for him and walked over, handing it to him. Remus took the satchel and quickly shoved what he needed for the day into his satchel and walked out of the room with Sirius following closely behind. He could hear the scrape of plates and cutlery coming from the kitchen, _James must be up now too_ , Remus thought. He turned to face Sirius when he reached the front door

"Can I leave my bag here?" looking at the overnight bag he was carrying, not wanting to carry it all the way to work.

"Of course" Sirius replied looking concerned.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, noticing Sirius' expression.

"I don't know how I feel about you going back there, not today, not after…"Sirius broke off.

Remus brought his hands up to cup Sirius' face. "Hey, look at me, it will be ok, I will be fine."

"They know where you work now."

"I will be fine," Remus repeated, "I will have my phone on me all day and Mrs Figg will be there today too, she may be old but she is fierce."

"Ok," Sirius laughed.

Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius goodbye.

"Call me tonight?" Sirius asked Remus.

"Yes"

"Promise?"


End file.
